Renewal

When the October fires burned through the Sonoma Valley, it tore through the Sonoma Valley Regional Park where we often go with Ozzie. It, like most of the parks around the county was closed for awhile while damage was assessed and cleanup was undertaken. Yesterday, Hood Mountain Regional Park,  opened and encouraged by our wonderful hike there yesterday, we decided to check out Sonoma Valley today.

I was planning to document the damage left behind,(see extras)  but decided instead to try and document the regeneration of the whole area now that we've had a little rain. The main picture shows the wide view of the unmistakable damage to the hills behind the St Francis Vineyard at the foot of Hood Mountain about a mile from our house. 

But the picture also shows that like almost every vineyard in the county, this one, along with many others protected the valley and its structures. 

These vines will be spur pruned. All the spent vertical growth will be cut off, leaving the horizontal branches to produce the fruit. New vertical shoots will grow up and leaf out, providing shade for the fruit in the heat of the summer. The grass between the vines will  prevent weeds and insects and will be mowed between the rows when it grows taller.

At the park, many oak trees were deemed dead and taken down. Others burned completely leaving strange imprints on the charred ground.* But arborists are saying that many burned trees will survive. *A buckeye tree looks like it exploded, the center trunk completely gone except for a hole in the ground. The outer branches, however, are still very much alive, even supporting lichens and moss.

A few flowers have begun to appear beside the trail, and the blackberries, chaparral and undergrowth have  burned away cleansing the soil and activating long dormant seeds. It should be a good wildflower season.

There seems to be little sign of clean up or debris removal of the house sites around the park. The third extra is yet another poignant reminder that the humans and their structures have not fared was well as the nature. In fact, perhaps we have interfered with the natural order of things by building houses and structures in the path of fires which used be allowed to burn, clearing the land for the seasons to come.