I have friends who live in Hidden Valley where the fires were burning in Lake County. They were evacuated from their home when the fires started and it brought me very close to the situation up there. After seeing so many of my friends posting their concerns about Harbin Hot Springs going up in flames on Facebook as well, I felt a real impact of the devastation that was happening.
I put out my feelers and connected with another acupuncturist, Jean Louis, and yesterday after lunch we met up at the Calistoga Fairgrounds where the Red Cross told me about 500 displaced people were camping out, waiting to find out if their homes were standing, or burned. Some already knew they lost everything. There was lots of donated clothing, bedding, supplies, pet care items... and helpers there sifting through and organizing the mountains of stuff.
We signed in with the Red Cross and walked around a bit to see where we might be able to set up an acupuncture station. All we had were needles and our caring hearts! I didn't bring chairs, a sign, or anything else, I just left my house with needles and hit the road.
We found a Wellness Tent had been set up by Susan Finnery Lucov, who runs a wellness center in downtown Calistoga. She went to work to help Jean Louis and I get chairs, a tent cover (it was, ironically, drizzling on and off all day), and she even pulled her car up so we could take some makeshift "free acupuncture" signs up so people would know we were there offering help. The community was really pulling together, I get goosebumps just typing and remembering that. I didn't take many photos because I didn't want to publicize people's pain, but here's a glance at the situation up there.
I put out my feelers and connected with another acupuncturist, Jean Louis, and yesterday after lunch we met up at the Calistoga Fairgrounds where the Red Cross told me about 500 displaced people were camping out, waiting to find out if their homes were standing, or burned. Some already knew they lost everything. There was lots of donated clothing, bedding, supplies, pet care items... and helpers there sifting through and organizing the mountains of stuff.
We signed in with the Red Cross and walked around a bit to see where we might be able to set up an acupuncture station. All we had were needles and our caring hearts! I didn't bring chairs, a sign, or anything else, I just left my house with needles and hit the road.
We found a Wellness Tent had been set up by Susan Finnery Lucov, who runs a wellness center in downtown Calistoga. She went to work to help Jean Louis and I get chairs, a tent cover (it was, ironically, drizzling on and off all day), and she even pulled her car up so we could take some makeshift "free acupuncture" signs up so people would know we were there offering help. The community was really pulling together, I get goosebumps just typing and remembering that. I didn't take many photos because I didn't want to publicize people's pain, but here's a glance at the situation up there.
We gave treatments to people and they calmed down, recovered their appetites, got rid of headaches, lowered their blood pressure, released tension and body pains... It was a gift to serve and I plan to go back up there tomorrow to be of service again.
In my personal journey, witnessing this level of pain in a community really helped me return to a perspective of immense gratitude for all that I have and the gifts in my life. Also, it reframed my own problems and they felt considerably smaller and more manageable after hearing the stories of those who have lost it all. I hope that helps you too, and that is why I am sharing this. Blessings to our neighbors and to all the people who are contributing their time, money, energy and love.
In my personal journey, witnessing this level of pain in a community really helped me return to a perspective of immense gratitude for all that I have and the gifts in my life. Also, it reframed my own problems and they felt considerably smaller and more manageable after hearing the stories of those who have lost it all. I hope that helps you too, and that is why I am sharing this. Blessings to our neighbors and to all the people who are contributing their time, money, energy and love.
