Sept. 15, 2020 — As we continue to hope and pray for all those directly affected by the fires in California, Oregon and Washington, I’ve been thinking of my good friend and Cardthartic contributing photographer Sammy Sasson, who has long captured the beauty and soul of those regions.
Sammy and I met here where we both call home, Miami Beach, but I’ve heard her speak often and fondly of the Pacific Northwest, where she lived for many happy years. Late Sunday night I emailed, “I keep thinking your heart must be heavy hearing of so much loss to a place you hold so dear. Sammy, shall we do a visual tribute, through your eyes showing our Cardies the beauty that was and — someday — will be again?”
True to form for this pro who especially loves shooting at sunrise, before dawn yesterday Sammy had sent me the images you see here, along with a message that says it all: “Yes, really heartbreaking, for the landscapes have always been divine: forests, trees, blossoms, trails, mountains, bluffs, waterfalls, rugged coastline. Endless green, trees and flower blooms. Filled with life and beauty, they are a source of endless joy.”
Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative
Prayer for Mother Earth
Let us all, with infinite devotion,
love this good earth.
Let us understand with greater intimacy
the meaning of “home.”
Let us love with ever expanding intention and purpose,
placing greater faith in nature and science.
Let us view our planet and all its moving parts
— stars, galaxies, winding rivers —
with a shaman’s fierce gaze,
a scientist’s deep knowledge,
and a child’s open heart.
Dear Jodee,
I am a native Californian. I have spent my life in San Francisco, Monterey and the Los Angeles area. I went to college in Chico, which is very close to Oroville, or what’s left of it. My first date with the man who became my husband, was in Paradise, a beautiful mountain town, east of Chico. Paradise incinerated two years ago.
The devastation of this huge region is tragic. It will take many, many lifetimes to rebuild and regrow what has been lost.
IF THE EYE COULD WEEP TO THE MEASURE OF ITS SORROW
ALL NIGHT AND ALL DAY IT WOULD WEEP
RUMI
…if we could just heal the earth with our tears.
Thank you – much needed and appreciated today! We are in the Seattle area, with family along the WA and OR corridor. The forecast for clearing keeps pushing farther out and even as a life-long resident of the Pacific NW I feel overwhelmed with the relentless fires/smoke. Thank you for reminding me of the beauty that we can so easily forget. Thanks for the gift of images and prayer today that serve as moments of peace and hope.
As someone who has lived in Northern California my whole life this was a beautiful tribute to the land that I call home. From camping in Big Basin, visiting my son at Chico State, ice skating at Christmas in Paradise, to hanging with my sister in Medford, Oregon. This is the place I call home and wouldn’t live anywhere else. Thank You