When you looked out over the mountains in the spring you always saw the trees begin to bud, hillsides turning green, coming to life. Now, looking out across the ranges from the nearest ridges to the horizon, during the day you see smoke. At night you see long lines of fire where the burning starts, and heads up the mountainsides.
Just a few months ago our area was flooded. Homes and neighborhoods and towns that had been there for centuries were ruined, washed away in a few days. That was very unusual, everyone said. A once in 500 years event.
Now our land is burning. The flood waters receded. The land is parched. What could start all these fires? Sparks, machines, accidents, lightning, carelessness, the presence of innocuous, familiar causes, conventions of modern life which we take for granted, now have new significance, under conditions which unleash hell. People say this is very unusual too. No one remembers a time like this.
Our members, whose homes were threatened and damaged by flood now are threatened by fire. The evacuation orders, helicopters in the air, phone alerts, homes locked up, property abandoned, kids and pets in the car all set to go, carefully chosen personal effects packed in backpacks and suitcases, one last look back, for a while, maybe forever, as you all pull out of the driveway. It looks different.
You can smell the smoke now, every day.
But most everyone is still getting to the dojo. Everyone, wherever they are staying, whatever they are dealing with, is still training.
It is good.
We can’t control the weather. Some people may be able to, but not us. We can control ourselves. We can decide what to do, and what to avoid. We can put our effort where it will do some good. If that means cutting the timber and brush around our homes, we do it. If that means preparing and remaining vigilant for approaching danger, we are. If that means keeping our bodies strong, our minds sharp, and our spirits high, in the company of friends, family, training partners and others, we do it. We value it even more than usual.
It looks different. You see it in a way you never did before, like the way your house looks, looking back at it, as it disappears down the driveway when you leave.
Or the first sight of it again, when you return.
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Post copyright © 2025 Jeffrey Brooks, MountainKarateNC.com, Yamabayashi Ryu, Mountain Karate Dojo, in the mountains of western NC.
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read True Karate Dō by Jeffrey Brooks
“One of the best books I’ve read in years, inviting and compelling. Jeff Brooks moves effortlessly from martial arts to Buddhism to consciousness studies, self-transformation, and related fields in this wide-ranging and Illuminating study that has much to offer both novice explorers and veteran practitioners. A splendid achievement.”— Philip Zaleski, Editor, The Best Spiritual Writing series