2nd
Day in the Panhandle
Wednesday, March 29th – Fly
Me to the Moon
by Jerry Finch
Early this morning, former
pilot Y. Simmons met Val Taylor, a
local lady and myself at the McLean
International Airport, which is at
the end of a very long dirt road
just outside of town. |
For a list
of desperately needed items
or how to donate,
please click here.
|
Except for the 30 mph winds, it was
a good flying day. The thrill of
flight was soon replaced by
something entirely different, a
transformation from trees and cars
on the freeway to a scene from a
lunar mission. Once over the edge of
the fire, the visions just outside the window and a few hundred
feet down were exact duplicates of
scenes from the moon. Exact
duplicates, except for the
occasional vision of life and death.
Look closely. Do you see the
small circle? That's a circle of
cows and a few horses gathered
around the feed a pickup left. The
cattle are in the circle, the horses
are walking toward the truck.
The few times we saw cattle, if the
were not gathered around a hay bale
left by someone, they were just
standing there. Nothing is left for
them to eat, not a blade of grass or
a stringy weed. Nothing. One thing
no one seems to be thinking about is
the deer. We saw around fifty of them, certainly
burned but alive, standing in a
clump of burned trees. Again,
nothing to eat.
Below is the remains of a ranch
house. Note all the vegetation.
In fact, in this picture you might
get the true grasp of what these
folks face. This fire consumed a 30
mile wide by 60 mile long stretch of
land. As far as the eyes can see
from 1,000 feet up – nothing…
And those few cattle that live,
often burned and weak, stand empty
except for the left over round bales
of donated hay.
And those now passed, who died a
very painful death, wait for the
sands to cover their bodies. Here,
if you look close, are two horses.
Finally, far ahead, the edge of the
fire, a place where the world turns
normal once again.
The second fire, now known as the
four-sixes, started close to here.
It's now thought that it started at
a well head.
While the first fire, the one around
McLean, was certainly started by a
cigarette thrown from a vehicle on
I-40.
Good things happened today. Late
this afternoon, a load of 1,100 bags
of donated feed arrived. It seems
that half the town showed up, most
of them saying, so typically modest, "I can
use a couple, but I'll wait to see
if there is any left. Others need it
more than I do."
And a few of the burned horses
finally received a visit from a vet
that knew how to treat burn. There I hope for them, at
long last.
Even for this poor baby with no
eyelids.
If all goes well tomorrow, I'll meet
with the vets in Pampa, then with a reporter. This weekend, I hope
to have volunteers here and a barn
to place the horses so they can be
worked on in a sanitized location.
Supplies are finally coming in –
blankets, halters, leads, etc.
This is the start of a long effort
on our part. We can do this, and
we can be proud of what we are
doing. Many of our members have
committed themselves to this effort.
You, of course, are cordially
invited.
Click here for
News from the 3rd day in the
Panhandle
***
| Contact
us
at
866.434.5737
to
volunteer.
Habitat for Horses accepts donations through PayPal.
Please note "Panhandle
Fires" in the Message
section for your
donation. Thank you!
|
For a list
of desperately needed items
or how to donate,
please click here.
|
Please mail personal checks
to:
Habitat for Horses, Inc.
P.O. Box 213
Hitchcock, TX 77563
All donations are
tax-deductible.
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