Here’s a story that’s stranger than fiction because fiction foretold it. Great truth tellers and freedom fighters from long ago and from today have been forecasting this moment through their work.

Today, we are waking up in the worlds they warned us about. What should we do? As one character says in his manifesto: TRY.

A story from my wildland firefighting adventures compares the state of our nation today with the dangers of a complex fire.When firefighters respond to a wildfire, they don't think about the odds. They employ their skills and devotion to do what they can; they work together to create and hold the line, and they don't quit until the fire is out. Neither should we. Are we going to be too slow, too scared, or too intimidated to defend our democracy?

I don't think so. I still have my boots and my helmet, and I still remember a thing or two about fighting fire with fire...and with good information....and with shrewd strategy and hard work and determination. And I do care. How about you?

We may live in the BADLANDS now, baby, but we're bad-asses when we all get together to make some good noise and get in some good trouble.

Yes, even though we’re living in the BADLANDS, this story comes full circle to hope.

Our country is falling off a cliff. Take it from someone who has spent some serious time on craggy canyon rims and treacherous slopes: when the structure of the surface beneath you starts to erode, fast-moving landslides can literally take away the ground on which you stand. In this country, we are all perched on the edge of a crumbling precipice right now.

Every week or so, I write a blog post on Substack. Then, a few days later, I produce a variation as an audio podcast, accompanied by original music and sound effects. I hope you enjoy this podcast and will share it with your friends.

Greed, avarice, bloodsucking vandalism, destruction, and dismembering is happening to our democracy… and to the WILD. And we’re expected to keep the moneybags full.

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Betrayed. Abandoned. Screwed over. Heisted. Robbed. Ripped off. Conned. Maybe we need a few more wolves.

I am going to tell you a WILD story before I am done, but first I have to tell you a bit more of what has got me to the state of remembering the time I had to sit alone a long while with a corpse in the cold at sunset.

This story is about a time when I lived in a high mountain valley. In the middle of the worst snowstorm in years, an infant needed to be taken to the hospital but the roads were closed and packed with three feet of snow. A small band of volunteer firefighters and community members banded together to relay the baby down the cliff-edged mountain road in the driving snow and darkness to meet an ambulance waiting below. When this creative and committed team needed to rescue something precious, they got innovative, bold, and brave.

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