Holy Smokes! While our community is again facing its greatest challenges; while friends and neighbors battle fear and wrestle with uncertainty, forced from their homes for days; while we join in gratitude for the unyielding efforts of hundreds of brave firefighters working their tails off for us all, praying for their continued safety ... there is a silver lining around that horrific plume: the photojournalism of Jerry McBride. Jerry’s unerring eye produces imagery of staggering and terrible beauty from these inconceivable events, and he captures every nuance when Mother Nature arches her eyebrows at we mere mortals and demonstrates her limitless power.
Many times I have glanced at a photo on the front page of the Herald and, whatever the subject matter, recognized Jerry’s handiwork instantly. Now, his art again being forged in ferocious fire, I am once again awestruck by Jerry’s sheer artistry.
May this fire burn itself to cold cinders, washed away by blessed rain, leaving us all whole and ready to move forward once again. May we all remember the harsh lessons granted, and may we forget, so that we may heal from these terrible trials-by-fire. May we all know in each heart-of-hearts that this brutal time, too, shall pass.
But Jerry’s magnificent imagery will endure, and will continue to strike us with awe, to flabbergast and to gobsmack us with the same intensity as smoke suddenly rising on a near horizon. Thank you, Jerry, and thanks again to all superb firefighters. Stay safe!
Davitt Armstrong
Durango
