Comments Lonna has made

My Children in New Zealand

I totally agree that children should be a part of the natural world.  My two (son Jonathan, age 10 and daughter Jessica, age 13) have hiked with me in the California mountains, beaches, and deserts since Jonathan was in a baby backpack.  

We have lived in New Zealand for the past 3 summers (their winters), and my children and I have been amazed at the beauty of the natural South Island.  The kids ski the Southern Alps, hike hours through native forests to waterfalls where they can drink right from the stream, 4X4ed to hidden valleys full of caves and rare ferns, ridden on boats across huge, clean lakes, taken boat tours on underground stream through glowworm caves, touched stallagtites, fed rare, wild birds like the Kea (the only Alpine parrot in the world, found only on the South Island of New Zealand), and touched strange insects like the large Wetas that live in cave mouths or in the forests.

I say "Good on 'ya, Mate! for encouraging our children to exchange video games for butterflies and T.V. for real, up-close views of plants, birds, mammals, insects, etc.

Keep spreading your wonderful ideas.  I am a cancer survivor, writer, and photographer, and my books all have some type of nature theme (you can check them out on my website at http://www.lonnawilliams.com or type my name in at http://www.amazon.com).

All the best!On Does Richard Louv's Last Child in the Woods say anything new? posted 3 years, 8 months ago 13 Responses

Beetle Battle

I live in Lake Arrowhead, in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California.  Our pine forests were destroyed by the bark beetles (and a long drought).  In October/November 2003, Southern California burned.  Hundreds of thousands of acres, 3500 homes, and about 27 lives were lost.  

On our own mountain, fires 300 feet high (on the tops of exploding dead, dry pine trees) terrified us as we evacuated our children, pets (including a fish in the cup holder and parrots in cages), and photographs.  Amazing how little we really needed to take with us--and how much I need to put those old photos on DVDs).

My 8-year-old son saw one wall of fire coming straight at us (we were driving down highway 330 from Running Springs--to the "bottom of the hill" at Highland.  

He said, "Mom, cool, stop and take a picture."

I am a photographer and writer, working as journalist for the "Mountain News" at the time, and seriously thought of it, but we had no tripod with us, and it was nighttime.  My 11-year-old daughter screamed, "Don't you dare stop.  I don't want to die like this!"

I didn't stop.  The long line of cars quietly made it down the highway before the fire swept across it.  Those who didn't make it down the highway were diverted to Big Bear and the far side of the mountain to the back desert--a five-hour drive as opposed to our 45-minute drive.

Ironically, my daughter and I had both written to President Bush about the bark beetles and to "please send help to cut down the dead trees"--about two weeks before the fire.  He later sent us a note and a photo of him & Laura--but didn't mention the trees or fire.

You can read Jessica's own account of what it was like evacuating a mountain and staying away for two weeks without knowing if her home would be there when she returned, on my website at  http://www.lonnawilliams.com.  You can also read my (longer) account, with some amazing photos I borrowed from the local fire department.

Don't take those British Columbia bark beetles lightly.  Pray for rain.  We even had a Sioux Indian tribe come and do a rain dance in Lake Arrowhead, for the water level of the lake had gone to a record low.

When the neighborhood water didn't work, the firetrucks had trouble getting water to fight the fire which burned 100,000 acres on our mountain, 1,000 homes and businesses--yet nobody was killed directly from the fire, and most of the towns at the top--and the schools and churches and businesses and neighborhoods--were spared.

The fire crossed Rim of the World highway to Strawberry Peak.  It crossed the peak, but 1200 firefighters with backpacks and shovels said, as Gandalf did in "The Fellowship of the Ring" from "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy,

"You shall not pass."  And so many neighborhoods--and our wooden home--were saved from the fiery monster.  The winds turned, the temperature lowered, and the Santa Ana winds from the eastern desert became ocean breezes from the west again.  And it snowed in October--the first time since most of us could remember.

The fire was like "The Return of the KIng."  When Gondor, the white city built on a mountain, needed help, a little hobbit lit the warning light which spread from mountain top to mountain top, until the riders of Rohan saw the call for help.

I have spent 3 summers (their winters) in New Zealand, and have seen the Southern Alps where those fires were filmed.  We hope to go back to New Zealand--which does not see the kind of fires that happen in America and Canada.  Our Kiwi friends were praying for us, sending us encouraging emails like "I, the Lord, will be with you through the fire and through the flood." (we later had a terrible flood in the ashes--that killed about 15 people, that following December--and my friend killed herself, for her uninsured business was burned, and she saw no hope).  The Kiwis were amazed at the fire photos, and invited us to come back any time.

While we were evacuated and staying with friends in the high desert south of our mountains, hills to the southeast of us started fire.  Jonathan (age 8) stood on a high rock with me and asked,

"Is it the end of the world?" as he saw Los Angeles, our mountains, Temecula, San Diego, and Orange County all ablaze.

"No," I replied, "but perhaps the end of our Southern California way of life--where we build houses by canyons or dead mountain trees, and the film crews show up before the fire trucks because there are so many fires.."

Cut down those dead trees while you can.  Pray for rain.  And call upon the Crest Forest Fire Department or the Lake Arrowhead Fire Department--who hung my photos on their walls.  They would be glad to help, as the Kiwis sent firefighters to help us.  I hope you never have to go through what we did--and nobody even asked us to evacuate.

Lonna Lisa Williams offers free selections from her books and photos at http://www.lonnawilliams.com

Charred Trees

I live in Lake Arrowhead, in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California where 2 years ago the "Old Fire" consumed 100,000 acres of our mountains (from bottom to top), made us evacuate and stay away for 2 weeks, and destroyed 1000 homes.  

Yet the charred trees are being lifted out of the forest by helicopters.  Some were retrieved by cranes (three cranes fell down, damaging houses--I used to write for the local newspaper).  When my daughter and I volunteered to help rebuild trails in the burned area of Hook Creek, the local forest worker and trail guide said that the burned trees, which were cut down so as not to fall on hikers, would stay there.

Perhaps they should.  I just hope one of those helicopters doesn't fall down on my house or one of my children.

Lonna Lisa Williams offers free selections from her books and photos at http://www.lonnawilliams.com

Is "enviro" a good or bad term?

I think "enviro" is a good term.  It certainly sounds better than some we've been called.  Also, it's easier to type out than environmentalist.  I say we should stick with "enviro" and truly wear it as a badge of honor.

Lonna Lisa Williams offers free selections from her books and photos at http://www.lonnawilliams.com