Eight Wildfires and a Hurricane

It is still hot - we hit 102 again yesterday, and expect the same for the next three days.  It's also windy in the afternoon - especially up in the hills and down in the canyons, where most of the fires are located.  I can not thank all of the fire fighters enough for all that they do throughout our state - it's such an overwhelming job!
   Hurricane Debby is cuddling with the Gulf Coast, and a warning is up from the Mississippi-Alabama state lines over to the Ochlockonee River on the Florida panhandle.  Good luck to those folks!  I'd love to get the approximately 10 inches of rain that forecasters are predicting for that area...
   There are now eight wildfires burning in Colorado - the High Park fire, which has grown to 82,190 acres, to the west of Fort Collins; the Woodland Heights fire, on the outskirts of Estes Park, blew up yesterday and has consumed 21 homes; down in the southwest corner of the state, near Durango, the Weber Canyon (6,000+ acres), Stateline, and Little Sand (18,000+ acres) fires are burning; the Springer fire, near Lake George is still burning; a new fire near Leadville, called the Treasure fire, is rapidly spreading; and the Waldo Canyon fire is rapidly expanding near Manitou Springs, and officials have called for the evacuation of four entire towns.  The Stateline fire is causing some trepidation because there are several natural gas and oil pumps in that area.
   At least cousin Aleda is doing much better and is out of ICU in Salisbury...  she will need a great deal of follow-up care, but hopes to go home soon.  I thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers for Aleda's recovery!  And, on another good note: A nearly 8,000-square-foot, $2.8 million research facility in Wachapreague was dedicated June 23 in a by-invitation event at which College of William and Mary President Taylor Reveley, Director of the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Nicholas DiPasquale and state Delegate Lynwood Lewis were slated to speak.  Some 250 people -- among them a delegation of scientists from China -- were expected to attend the ceremony to dedicate the Eastern Shore Seawater Research Laboratory, which is part of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science campus. (Go, Eastern Shore!)