The first day here our neighbour said
You should have seen this place when I was young
But the fire of 89 took the last sequoia
Took it back to chaparral
Me and Sarah moved in from Bakersfield
Settled in the path of Jesusita
And it's a long way down that canyon now
Blazing Stars were never sweeter
Looking all around
Digging in the ground for what we lost in Jesusita
Made a life there in the sun
Through the canyon every morning run
Make my way back to her, and pray for ever
Blue ribbons in the trees
Little children running with them playing in the breeze
None of this prepared me for Jesusita
Little planes fly in the dawn
Swooping down where ponderosas burned
Cover over blackened ground where I still see her
Drove through flashes in the night
Blazing embers tossed backward from another time
Things we let get out of sight
Things we never did get right
We never rescued them that night
From Jesusita
Released on The California Tapes, 2019