While accompanying restoration ecologists on prescribed prairie burns,
I am drawn to the ephemeral quality of a single moment
when life and death do not seem opposed to each other,
but are parts of a single process to be accepted as a whole.
Controlled burns imitate naturally occurring fires by removing
accumulated dead vegetation and releasing seeds from dormancy.
By opening the woodlands to more sunlight,
the fires prepare the soil for new spring growth,
and the cycle of renewal continues.