The control burn is finished, smoke gone, ash slowly dissolving, ant hills reappearing (white sand against black ash strikingly lovely despite my innate complaint with the pesky ants, though I do admire that they apparently really know how to go to ground to be safe from everything!)…and meanwhile, in the unburned portion of the land, blooming is happening, with something new and lovely every day, even the dogwoods I thought last summer’s drought had killed….