Rogue River And The Last Pear Tree

Saturday, July 17th, 2021

Margery woke up, forgetting for a moment that the excitement of summer was gone, and the job for today was to pack up suitcases and keepsakes. Her parents didn't tell her why, they just sat her down at dinner, and began explaining that they were going on a trip to see her grandmother in Illinois. Margery loved spending time with her grandmother. Summers there were always fun and grandma would take her and her cousins to the waterpark and to Adventureland in Iowa.

This felt different. She knew something was wrong and her parents were keeping it from her. Besides, grandma had just left a couple of weeks ago after coming to visit them in Oregon. This year had been her year to travel west and, "Get away from your grouchy old grandfather" as she put it, imitating grandpas' gravel voice. They'd gone to the coast, her parents, grandma, and Margery. There was a place her parents loved to visit and they would camp there along the beach, falling asleep to the soft sounds of the ocean washing into the sand.

Margery went outside to take a look at her home, knowing that she might not see it for a while. She had ample yard to play in with her friends, something that her father promised when they moved to Rogue River. There were trees filled with lush green vegetation, something that grandma didn't have living in the city. Margery packed up the tent that she had in the backyard. If they weren't leaving all of a sudden, her father, Jack, would be happy that it was finally being taken down. It had been there so long that the grass beneath it died and there was nothing but dry, barren dirt, showing its' cracks from the lack of moisture in the earth.

"Honey," her father yelled, "Come on, we've got to get going."

Margery didn't want to leave her home. She was concerned, even at the young age of ten, that she wouldn't see it again. She turned and looked at her father, a tear streaking down her cheek. As she watched her father come down the porch steps, a hurried look on his face, she could tell that their leaving was more important than she understood.

"Daddy, why do we have to leave?" she sobbed as she asked for an explanation.

Jack knelt next to his daughter, who he loved dearly. He hated that he had to break her heart but the evacuation order had begun and everybody needed to clear out of Rogue River until the area was declared safe. Fires were springing up everywhere and while the skies were blue today, they would soon be covered by thick plumes of black and gray smoke as the forests continued to burn out of control.

"Do you remember what mommy explained about the temperatures being so hot?"

Margery, still sobbing, stammered a "yes" as her father put his big, strong arms around her.

Jack began to explain to her that the intense heat that filled the western side of the country had lingered for so long that even the forests were suffering. He told his young daughter about wildfires and how they were beginning to rage out of control. Pointing his finger to the south, where the signs of smoke-filled skies were starting to move toward Rogue River, Jack told his daughter why they had to leave their home.

"You see, sweety, when the storms came and lightning struck near the Palisades, they started one of the worst wildfires in history. The fires have spread for hundreds of miles. New fires are popping up faster than the firefighters can put them out and we're all in danger," said Jack. "So, we'll go to grandma Maggie's to stay until things are under control and its' safe to come home."

Margery and her parents were on the road heading away from Rogue River as the situation continued to worsen and winds from the Pacific pushed the fires westward at an accelerating pace. Jack listened to the radio, keeping tabs on the road conditions, and trying to hurry as he worked to get his family to safety. Karen sat in the back seat to keep Margery company and to keep her distracted. Neither parent wanted to alarm their daughter any more than they must.

By the time they were past the worst part of the disaster, Jack was finally starting to relax. They had loaded his white pickup with as many of their personal effects and items with sentimental value as they could get squeezed into the bed of an F-150. Now, hopefully, they could find hotels along the way and turn a day and a half drive into a mini vacation.

Sunday, August 15th, 2021

It took almost a month before there was any hope of going home and nobody knew what to expect, just to prepare for the worst. The fires spread as far east as just west of St Louis, with Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida all suffering nature's wrath. Millions of people had been displaced from their homes, only to come back to the scene of burnt, charred, rubble, and shattered dreams.

Jack, Karen, and Margery flew out to survey their home before returning. There was so little information and the authorities were still working to keep the fires from restarting. Jack rented a room for them for a couple of days and took his family to see if they still had a home in Rogue River. As they drove up to the house, most of the neighborhood in ruins, Jack took a deep breath as Karen started to weep.

"It'll be alright," he told his wife and daughter as Margery looked on in horror.

The front of the house was scorched, leading them to believe it was a loss. Jack and Karen told Margery to stay in the car until they knew it was safe for her to come in. Once they checked the inside, then they would bring Margery in and show her the damages.

Margery, being impetuous, got out of the car to go see her favorite place, the backyard of her childhood home. What she found was not the once fun, color-filled, hangout for her friends and her when they came to play. The trees were all burnt, the ground scorched, and it looked like nothing lived. Margery began to cry as she stood there, realizing what had happened to her little world.

In the midst of it all, she turned to the back of the house, shocked at what was in front of her. The back of the house looked dirty and rough but it had not been burnt by the fires. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve as she walked toward the deck her dad liked to grill on and where she had eaten with her friends and family many times. Her parents came running out to the back, as she stood by the deck, looking at the first miracle Margery ever witnessed.

In the midst of all of the damage, in the center of all the horror, not only had their house survived somehow, but something had lived. As Jack and Karen ran to their daughter, hugging her together, she pointed at the brightest, most colorful tree she had ever seen. Margery stood speechless, as her parents hugs nearly suffocated her.

Margery's parents stood up and marveled at what their daughter was staring at. Jack scratched his head as Karen stood there, holding Margery's hand, a big smile on both of their faces.

"Would you look at that," Jack said to his family. "The last pear tree in Rogue River."

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