Chris Kerston travels a lot for work, which is an important part of his family’s story on Nov. 8, 2018. Kerston had left the house very early that morning to catch a flight to Atlanta. He’s Director of Market Engagement & Public Outreach for the Savory Institute. It’s an organization focusing on large scale regeneration of grasslands around the world, through holistic management to address all aspects of climate change.
On that morning, Kerston’s wife, Kelsey, had taken their two sons to school in Chico. Then the fire broke out. Kelsey Kerston was unable to make it home before their home was destroyed. Chris Kerston ended up returning home that same day from Denver, as word of the magnitude of the fire became apparent.
Weeks after the fire, they started to look for land. Chris Kerston says it was a way to transform hurt, trauma and grief and embrace an opportunity to begin again. The family moved his grandmother’s thirty-five year old trailer, that he’d camped in with her as a child, onto the property. They are homesteading and plan to break ground on their new home in the spring.
Their family hashtag is “The Other Side of Paradise,” which refers to moving over to the next hill.