Hi, my name is Georg M Coermann, and you are reading my story because of southern California fire.

 

Early beginnings

 

I was born in Ohio, and when I was 4 years old, my parents, my little sister, and I moved to Germany.  My life dream then was to make things go, to make cars and trucks. 

 

As I became a teenager, my dream grew into becoming an industrial designer specializing in automotive design.  So I decided to study mechanical engineering, graduated in 1992 as Master of Science, and worked for ContiTech in Hannover, Germany as a project engineer.

 

Within a few years, I realized that my life dream was shifting to include a goal of nurturing the land.  Since I was a child I have always been drawn to the outdoors, gardens, and plants, probably because of my mom, who was a biologist, florist, and teacher.

 

As my career in the automotive industry headed into a dead end, I put on the brakes in 2000 and moved to Encinitas, California, where my mom had been living for a handful of years. 

 

Beginning to work with the land

 

When I arrived in Encinitas, north of San Diego, I started working at a nursery as a customer-service associate.  Soon I was taking classes in landscape design and construction in the Horticulture Department at nearby Mira Costa College.  On top of that, I started maintaining customers’ gardens.  I had gone from making things go, to helping things grow.

 

I was so eager to learn everything I could about plants, soil, climate, nutrients, water management and maintenance.  For a decade, I was fully self-employed, designing and installing conventional gardens in San Diego North County. 

 

Beginning to work in Permaculture

 

Then in 2013, in a life-changing experience, I accomplished my Permaculture Design Certificate in a program where I learned how to create a sustainable, carbon-negative, community-orientated, food-producing ecosystem. 

 

I really felt that I had prepared for the life goal of my dreams and I wanted to become a professional in sustainable agriculture, to help things grow using the most responsible means.  As a consequence, my interest in conventional gardening disappeared.



Creating a Permaculture garden

 

For several years, I had been living with my dogs on half an acre of beautiful land above the San Luis Rey Valley near Oceanside, California.  I began using the land there to practice Permaculture for application elsewhere on larger pieces of land. 

 

In my garden-maintenance work, every time a customer didn't want a tree in their garden anymore, I dug it up and transplanted it to the remote area where I lived.  Almost all of the trees took to the transplanting well, and they are big trees today. They give shade, hold water, attract birds, insects, and wild life, and store nutrients, improving the microbiology of the soil.

 

I also reshaped rows of soil and installed Huegelbeete, which were invented by an Austrian mountain farmer, for helping with water management, creating favorable micro-climates, storing plant nutrients for the long term, and providing living space for highly diverse plant guilds.

 

The possibilities for using Permaculture practices are endless, and the garden and I were thriving. 

 

The Fire

 

On November 1st, 2019, everything changed in just a few minutes.  My wife, Sherry, noticed smoke and came running to warn me.  Luckily I had taken that day off so I was home. 

 

When I got there, there was dry grass in 6-foot-high flames.  I immediately ran to rescue my dogs.  Within seconds I was in a war zone fighting for my life and the lives of my dogs.  I was able to move 2 dogs out, and one dog ran away, I trust, to safety.  But one dog burned.

 

I reached my car and drove with two dogs to safe ground.  Then I walked back and moved my truck out of the danger zone. That's all I could save of my physical belongings.  I left and lost several classic motorcycles and cars.  I was in shock. 

 

It was only when I met the police down at the street, that I realized I had injuries: burns on one leg and two arms.  I was taken by the Paramedics to the ER at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido and treated for second-degree burns.  Sherry took my truck and car to safe places and my dogs to the Humane Society. 

 

Afterwards

 

I was discharged from the hospital the same day and a friend of mine gave us his guesthouse to stay in.  It was a huge blessing that we didn't have to go to a public shelter.

 

The next day, I picked up my dogs from the Humane Society and moved my vehicles to my friend’s place.

 

Also, we looked at the burned land. That depleted me of all my energy.  I was in shock again.

 

The fire department had a big crew working.  They used a back hoe to turn over everything looking for hot spots. 

 

Then they created a huge pile of rubble in the center of the garden.  Now, that was a devastating thing to view!  I realized that 14 years of my work and creation had been destroyed. 

 

Two days after the fire, we went to the UCSD Burn Center in San Diego.  As they took off the dressing, we realized that my injuries were much larger than two days before, and the doctor decided to keep me there for treatment.

 

For some days now I have received good care at the UCSD Burn Center, and the doctor is happy with my healing process. 

 

A New Beginning

 

Here is my plan for my recovery.  I will heal and get back on my feet.  I will save for a decent used camper which I will put on the back of my Ford truck.  This camper will give me and the dogs just enough shelter, comfort and coziness, with a kitchen, shower, TV, and a comfortable bed.  Then my plan is to find a piece of land where I can set up my camper and create a new life.

 

I will be ever grateful to everyone who is willing to make a contribution.  Right now, it is hard to get through the night, but I’m trying to make myself see this as a new beginning.

 

Thank you all,

Georg M. Coermann

 

 

This funding effort was set up by friends of Georg M. Coermann from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Choir San Diego.  We look forward to having him back in our tenor section soon.