washington's burning...

...it is!

We have over 200,000 square acres of timber, prairie and agricultural property burning right now.

Some of these fires were caused by lightning and others were "human" caused.

Big fires, small fires and fires in between. We have fire crews from New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Washington, Montana and many other states here trying to get lines around our many big fires.

We're burning up here folks.

I've been running from fire to fire for the past several weeks doing my thing... my little part in the big picture. It's been hectic and at times exhausting. Not just for me but primarily for those out there on the line day in and day out!

Most of these fires are not in easy terrain either. One fire in particular has a "finger ridge" on it's north front that is about 50 inches wide at it's widest place and over a mile long. How do fire crews get a "line" on that?

And what does "human caused" mean? Well, it could be a myriad of things. It could mean escaped campfires, carbon particles from internal combustion engines with defective exhaust (motorcycles, chainsaws, etc.), errant smokers, sparks from dragging trailer chains, fireworks, children with matches, etc.

It can also mean those idiots who intentionally light fires for jollies, money or whatever.

Yeah, we're having our fair share of fires right now... more than our "fair share". This is the second most fire intense year in the state's recorded history... so far. And the fire season isn't over yet.

The predicted weather for the next week includes a "warming trend" that'll reach the high 80's to low 90's on the west side of the Cascade Mountains and will push into the high 90's to triple digits on the east side of the Cascades. Warming from the mid 70's (west) and high 80's, low 90's (east).

All I can say is it's been one heckuva season thus far.

So, that's a bit of what I've been up to. There's been some other stuff that's been sprinkled in the wife's and my life these past couple of months as well... including the latest on bpbil and his very odd wife and her "family", her alleged assault on him, his latest run in with the law, some other troubling news and some "good" stuff thrown in just to ensure life's not all bad... just challenging and difficult at times... here lately, quite often.

Just when you think you've some time to breathe and relax a bit something else flies in your face.

I'll be back...

Thanks! Be careful and enjoy!

Oh yeah, we're very close to having our third grandchild join the world. She's due anytime... That's a huge bright spot!