Yavapai County is offering a lot of help for residents to clean up after the Yarnell fire. For us uninsured renters they will scoop up the mess and haul it away.
I asked to have the tin storage shed lifted off the ash pile and that’s exactly what they did. Plus took the crispy water heater and a little bit more.
These folks really know what they’re doing. After making a pile of twisted tin the two dozers faced off and mushed it into one bucket. I even took video, but probably won’t take the time to post it.
Much easier to get into the ashes with the shovel to sift for possible treasures.
So in my big clompy boots, work gloves, bandana and dust mask I started to sift.
Really anything that survived in any melted form is worth saving to me. Thinking of a Yarnell fire memorial garden, maybe right where the shed stood.
And low and behold I found my diamond ring showing the brightest and cleanest diamond with the gold band covered in gray scale. This is the second time I’ve lost and found this ring.
So I ended my dirty sifting job for the afternoon and took a slow ride through the neighborhood in shock.
The strangeness of it all is still overwhelming.
Life on the mountains will return.
The birds are here.
I am thrilled you found your ring. The gold band can be cleaned up by a good goldsmith. This really brought back memories, including the little red cart. My children had those too. You are lucky, you have your home on wheels intact. So many others are often left with just the clothes on their backs.
How lovely to have the help to clear up.
Was the most exciting find so far. I do feel very fortunate to have my home on wheels.
I don’t even want to know what else was in there that didn’t make it…
We all will be thinking of things lost for a long time.
Such a painful exercise, but you made a beautiful discovery. A memorial garden is an excellent idea. My best wishes to you and to all the Yarnell residents.
Lots more to sift but I feel like I found what I was looking for. Thanks Carole.
What a tragedy but so nice to see the community coming together. And you found your ring!!! Now there’s a sign of good things to come!
I was pretty shocked when it glittered in the sifting screen.
Hard to see the devastation but so very lucky that as a full-timer, you had almost all your things in your 5vr and it was not there in Yarnell.
I feel so fortunate to have my home and all the things I really need to live.
If you are anything like me you will be missing things for a long time to come. How lucky though to find your diamond ring. Glad that the people there are getting so much help, yourself included. Take care Diane
What a shock when I actually found that ring. I’m sure to be thinking of “things” lost for a while.
That must be your lucky ring!! You have such an amazing attitude! I am waaaay too attached to my things…gotta fix that! 8*)
Trust me, I’m already missing some of those forever lost things.
Incredible that you found the ring. I can’t even begin to think what is like to have so much destruction.
It’s a whole new experience.
I can’t even imagine going through something like this. Glad you found the ring..again!
Sure was a surprise.
Gaelyn…I just finished a sweet little book called Sweeping Changes by Gary Thorp….kind of like the zen of material things. It describes everything as temporary and though it is a hard concept to accept (especially now) it held a lot of truth for me. We hold memories in our heart more than anything. I have lots of extra stuff and when the time comes anyone in Yarnell is welcome to it.
Now that I found the ring I feel almost relieved to not have stuff in storage any more. I’ll let Berta know you have stuff. She’s rented a fully furnished house in Yarnell. She will have so much fun recollecting after she rebuilds.
Very true about “stuff”. After my husband died, I was not interested in all of the stuff, my daughter still does not understand and wants to hold onto a bunch of stuff. I, too, feel that the memories are in our hearts. With that said, it is still difficult to go through a tragedy such as this fire, you will still grieve for the loss of things.
So sad to see this. How is your friend doing? She lost her house? Do you follow the blog http://www.gowestferalwoman.com? She just wrote 10 blog posts about the fire that went through her Montana property last summer.
Berta, and many others, lost their houses. She has moved into a rental house about a block away. I’ll have to check out this blog. Thanks.
Are you taking a leave from working at the Grand Canyon? I completely understand if you are – the shock must be overwhelming.
I’m glad you found your ring in the ruins…
I’ll be back to work Saturday but did take several days off.
Very moving post, both the photos and the text. So glad you found your ring. I read somewhere once that a German woman, while planting vegetables in her garden, had lost her ring. She and her husband looked everywhere, but to no avail. Later that year, when harvesting carrots and on the very day of their anniversary, he pulled up a carrot and the ring was on the carrot’s ‘waist’. —The cardinal in the tree is your sign of hope.
Some things are meant to be found. Good story.
They say diamonds last forever and I guess this proves it is true. Like a light that shines in the darkness for you. This is a very moving post Gaelyn. I am glad that unlike so many others you didn’t lose “everything” but I know the things you cared enough to put in storage meant a lot to you and I am so sorry you are sifting through their ashes. My heart goes out to you and those who have lost everything in this sad sad fire.
Funny about the diamond. The rest will be fun to go thru later.
There’s definitely a sign of hope in that twice lost and found ring!
I think you’re right.
Amazing that you found your ring. Definitely some meaning in that. I’m so sorry for the community who lost their homes, the firemen who lost their lives. Absolutely tragic. But there will be life and green again…someday soon.
Nina
After rain Monday night green shoots could be seen the next day. This fire was a tragedy in way too many ways.
Pretty scary—-just going back. I am glad you found some things and I think a melted memorial would be great. MB
I’ve barely sifted the pile and am sure to find more.
Wow, it’s just overwhelming still, even to those of us 80 miles away. Last time I was in Yarnell was 7/31/12; I would so like to see it again a year later but still don’t feel right about going up there.
Amazing about your ring, I would keep it on all the time now. And the cardinal is beautiful. “Earth has no sorrows that earth cannot heal.” (John Muir) That will be true for the actual landscape but I know not for the losses suffered by people.
I’d give it a month or two before visiting Yarnell. There is so much activity there cleaning up the mess. Some people will rebuild while others will not. But you, and Muir, and right, the earth will heal.
I’ll have to get the fire scale removed from the ring before I feel comfortable wearing it again.
Oh Gaelyn, this was so awful. I checked in with you on my IPad as we traveled but never got caught up on commenting when we got back and then the computer broke. I hope you knew I was thinking about you.
It is sad but not the end of the world. Thanks for thinking about me, as I wondered what happened to you. Glad it was only a broken computer.