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| BASTROP FIRES & MOVING FORWARD- 9/21/11 |
Dear Friends & Family,
It is with mixed sadness and optimism that I write this...
As many of you may already know, we were affected by the
wildfires of Bastrop County over Labor Day Weekend. That
Sunday morning I had gone to Bastrop grocery shopping.
Around 2pm I headed home and could see in the distance, in
the direction of our home, smoke filling the air. I immediately
called Rob at home and told him to look and see if he could tell
where the smoke was located. I then passed up the fire to the
north of our location and made it home. We checked our local
Bastrop County Emergency Mgmt facebook page to see if there
were any posts about it. Soon, they posted that the
neighborhood next to ours was under mandatory evacuation.
We kept an eye on the sky, and soon dark smoke filled the
It is with mixed sadness and optimism that I write this...
As many of you may already know, we were affected by the
wildfires of Bastrop County over Labor Day Weekend. That
Sunday morning I had gone to Bastrop grocery shopping.
Around 2pm I headed home and could see in the distance, in
the direction of our home, smoke filling the air. I immediately
called Rob at home and told him to look and see if he could tell
where the smoke was located. I then passed up the fire to the
north of our location and made it home. We checked our local
Bastrop County Emergency Mgmt facebook page to see if there
were any posts about it. Soon, they posted that the
neighborhood next to ours was under mandatory evacuation.
We kept an eye on the sky, and soon dark smoke filled the
forest to the north. We made the decision that we too needed to evacuate. We gathered our firebox/important papers, change of
clothes, and some baby toys and left....thinking that we could reenter the area the next day...that surely it would blow the other
direction away from our home.
As you may now know, the Bastrop Complex Fire grew to a massive 34,000+ acres and destroyed 1500-1600 homes. We waited 5 days with
no news on whether our home had been affected...sadly, as many others, our home and all structures were completely destroyed.
Over the course of the last couple of weeks, it has been an emotional journey of anxiety, hope, overwhelming kindness/support,
bountiful prayers, devastation, loss, and now- hope again for a new future. Currently, we have been blessed by some old friends who
are letting us stay in their vacation rental in Austin. We will be urban dwellers until we can find other arrangements back in Bastrop
County. We have had such an outpouring of love and support, all wondering what they can do to help, and at this moment we are
good. We have food, shelter, clothing, and each other- and until we find our next location, we have chosen not to take on too much
"stuff". We so greatly appreciate those of you who have sent us critical items and gift cards- they have helped tremendously during this
limbo time while we work out the details with insurance. For those who would like to assist us in rebuilding our lives...we are creating
future plans, and would be so grateful if you can help us down the road!
Rob and I have made the decision that we will rebuild on our property. Of our 7 acres of forest, 5+ acres suffered major devastation on
the back portion of the property, but the area directly around the homestead still has trees with some green and shrubs that are
drought affected but not burned. Our forest landscape is forever changed- it won't be as it was, but it will grow to become something
new and perhaps even more beautiful.
Prior to our son's birth in 2009, we had made major renovations to our house, built a guest cabin, and an art workshop completely
outfitted for wood and clay sculpture. All that is lost now and clean-up and rebuilding will certainly be a arduous process- however, we
remain faithful in knowing that our lives evolve toward our highest good....so on to bigger and better, right?!
In dreaming of a future home for ourselves, we are strongly considering a sustainable earthbag home. The soil of the Lost Pines is sugar
sand...and we are in abundance of it on our property. The loss of the understory has revealed the natural water channels so, we plan
on digging out a pond area and utilizing that soil to build our new home structures. Once that process is underway...we will put the
call out for volunteers to help us build an exciting and unique new home. We have much to learn about this unconventional
construction, but lucky for us, a friend of ours is an architect who is familiar with sustainable construction processes- so we are in
good hands. Is it any surprise that we love the idea of hand sculpting a new home and life for our family, from the very soil we love so
much? - the best is yet to come for MorzYard!
We have mindful gratitude for the blessings that surround us during this time...your thoughts, prayers, and offers in kind...for them, we
thank you and we thank our Creator- for God is good, all the time.
With love and grace,
Jamaica & Robert, aka, MorzArt
clothes, and some baby toys and left....thinking that we could reenter the area the next day...that surely it would blow the other
direction away from our home.
As you may now know, the Bastrop Complex Fire grew to a massive 34,000+ acres and destroyed 1500-1600 homes. We waited 5 days with
no news on whether our home had been affected...sadly, as many others, our home and all structures were completely destroyed.
Over the course of the last couple of weeks, it has been an emotional journey of anxiety, hope, overwhelming kindness/support,
bountiful prayers, devastation, loss, and now- hope again for a new future. Currently, we have been blessed by some old friends who
are letting us stay in their vacation rental in Austin. We will be urban dwellers until we can find other arrangements back in Bastrop
County. We have had such an outpouring of love and support, all wondering what they can do to help, and at this moment we are
good. We have food, shelter, clothing, and each other- and until we find our next location, we have chosen not to take on too much
"stuff". We so greatly appreciate those of you who have sent us critical items and gift cards- they have helped tremendously during this
limbo time while we work out the details with insurance. For those who would like to assist us in rebuilding our lives...we are creating
future plans, and would be so grateful if you can help us down the road!
Rob and I have made the decision that we will rebuild on our property. Of our 7 acres of forest, 5+ acres suffered major devastation on
the back portion of the property, but the area directly around the homestead still has trees with some green and shrubs that are
drought affected but not burned. Our forest landscape is forever changed- it won't be as it was, but it will grow to become something
new and perhaps even more beautiful.
Prior to our son's birth in 2009, we had made major renovations to our house, built a guest cabin, and an art workshop completely
outfitted for wood and clay sculpture. All that is lost now and clean-up and rebuilding will certainly be a arduous process- however, we
remain faithful in knowing that our lives evolve toward our highest good....so on to bigger and better, right?!
In dreaming of a future home for ourselves, we are strongly considering a sustainable earthbag home. The soil of the Lost Pines is sugar
sand...and we are in abundance of it on our property. The loss of the understory has revealed the natural water channels so, we plan
on digging out a pond area and utilizing that soil to build our new home structures. Once that process is underway...we will put the
call out for volunteers to help us build an exciting and unique new home. We have much to learn about this unconventional
construction, but lucky for us, a friend of ours is an architect who is familiar with sustainable construction processes- so we are in
good hands. Is it any surprise that we love the idea of hand sculpting a new home and life for our family, from the very soil we love so
much? - the best is yet to come for MorzYard!
We have mindful gratitude for the blessings that surround us during this time...your thoughts, prayers, and offers in kind...for them, we
thank you and we thank our Creator- for God is good, all the time.
With love and grace,
Jamaica & Robert, aka, MorzArt