One January morning, my son Jesse called, rather shaken. He had just driven past the remains of the barn we built in Spanish Hills.

Spanish Hills is just one of the neighborhoods that were destroyed by the Marshall Fire that raged across Boulder County on December 30, 2021. One person is confirmed dead and another unaccounted for. Over 6,000 acres burned. In total, 1,084 homes were destroyed, 149 were damaged. Seven commercial buildings were destroyed and another 30 were burned. The personal and property toll is unimaginable. Its trauma will last for years.

Annie and I lived in Lafayette, the next town over, for nearly nine years. Our physical and emotional connection to this area is very real. I am shocked and saddened to know it is gone.

As a young builder, I learned to build structures to “stand the test of time.”

To me, this means solid, stately, enduring.

The materials and fasteners are selected to resist strong winds, storms, mild earthquakes, lightning strikes, hail, and torrential rain. Adhering to the “500-year flood zone” that the Army Corp of Engineers established in local watersheds is paramount. Building along shoreline coastal zones requires driving pilings deep into the marshy soils.

In Boulder County, Colorado, the building code requires the use of fire-resistant exterior materials. Therefore, the siding and trim of this barn were Hardie Board cementitious planks, board and batten style, fastened securely with stainless steel nails. The roof was aluminum self-locking continuous panels. As I said, I built to stand the test… but the Marshall Fire was stoked by 100+ mph winds. It was a tsunami of heat that no building could withstand.

A part of my soul lives in each project.

I regret to state that two other Boulder County projects of mine were lost in that fire’s 24-hour spree. These homes were time signatures of my life’s passage. Turns out, they were more fragile than I thought.

The lesson, one at the core of most spiritual paths, is of the impermanence of life, the need to be centered in the moment, to cherish the important aspects of life – family, friends, nature.

Clearly, there is a climatological imperative occurring.

Annie and I left Boulder County because of the deteriorating air quality and overdevelopment.

When we first moved to Lafayette, the cool air came from the Continental Divide in the west. It was cleansing air, building the oxygen-filled prana. But the weather patterns have changed. Now the harsh winds blow the off-gasses from the frack wells in Erie and Denver. The drought-stricken grasses are tinder-ready to rip. Fire season is the new normal.

It was a beautiful barn.

One entered through two massive 10’x10’ oak doors – then you’d look up 25’ to the clerestory section high above. Sunlight filled the space!

The 30-foot-deep, expansive soil-proof footings will still be there if someone wants to rebuild upon them. But would that be a good idea?

My heart aches for the residents who have lost so much – their homes, their businesses, their pets.