OLW #73: FIERCE

Revlie put forth the word FIERCE for this month's inspiration at One Little Word.  I quickly slapped the word onto a piece of scrap paper and posted it in my art-ing space.  What does "fierce" mean to me? 

My first conjuring while contemplating this powerful word was Tyra Banks and her modeling mojo. But, I already blogged about that, so I continued my meditation.

Tigers.  Tigers are FIERCE.  

I pulled some newspaper out of the recycle bin to see if I was capable of painting such a majestic beast, roaring with fierceness.

The section of paper I grabbed caught me off guard, and my mind-picture of "fierce" was wadded up and reborn with powerful metaphor and a comparative feeling of smallness.

The Granite Mountain Hotshots, an elite firefighting crew in Prescott, AZ, who lost their lives on June 30, 2013 battling the Yarnell Hill fire

I decided that I would continue with my idea to paint a tiger on the newspaper.  These 19 men epitomize fierceness.  

In an article at CNN.com Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo described the Hotshot crew:  "These are the guys that will go out there with 40, 50 pounds of equipment and walk five miles. They'll sleep out there as they try to develop fire lines" to protect homes.  Roy Hall, an incident commander with the state forestry commission said, "They are the elite of the ground firefighters.  They're highly trained and highly specialized.  They are a younger generation.  That's the tragedy of it, that lives would be lost of such a young group," 

I added the names of the nineteen to the flames.  I am humbled by the courageous choices so many men and women of the world make, that they are able to sign on for danger, go through extreme training and preparedness to step up to protect others; not just acting on impulse when a situation arises, but planning aforehand to be the one to call.

Thank you, with fierce appreciation and gratitude.