Wildfires All Around the Country

There are two wildfires burning in western Colorado, near the Utah border - I haven't said much about them because they are not currently affecting our air quality - and it's a hot, dry summer, and summer wildfires are normal.  -  BUT.   But, there are currently 38 large wildfires burning with little or no control, and 143 new small fires were reported over the past two days.  That's kind of scary. I have had my nose and mind buried in the happenings on Chincoteague and Assateague, and on the Olympics results from Great Britain, but that isn't a good excuse.   Wildfires have positively blossomed over the last few weeks - and I have pretty much ignored them because they don't seem to affect me.  The scenes of the fires in Oklahoma are horrific, and very little coverage is given to the 6 large fires in Montana, or the 7 large fires in Idaho.  It seems incredible - and I am truly horrified from hearing that one of the fires in Oklahoma was started by someone tossing a flaming newspaper out of their truck and into the brush beside the road.  That is just unimaginable for me.  My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who lives near, or has lost anything, to this spate of fires....
  NBC will be showing 30 minutes of the second qualifying round of Grand Prix Jumping at 11:30 MDT today - Don't read the next few lines if you want to be surprised...  In the second jumping qualifying round, Reed Kessler and Cyana did not qualify, and Beezie didn't qualify after two refusals yesterday.  Rich Fellers (on Flexible) is currently one of twelve without any faults in the jumping competition, while McLain Ward and Antares have four faults.
   I spent most of yesterday evening sorting and labeling 250 photos on Snapfish.  Color me frustrated.  I looked at the results before bed last night, and found that most of the descriptions of the photos has migrated by one, or two, frames.  I was fit to be tied!  So I took a long, cooling walk in the neighborhood, and had to laugh at the antics of the raccoon family and the young fox kits.  There is nothing like an animal to bring me back to an "even keel."
  Speaking of even keels - there was an very interesting gathering at the harbor in Crisfield, Maryland (on the Chespeake Bay) yesterday.  They had the First Annual Buy Boat Reunion and Crab Feast there, and were very happy with the large turn-out that appeared.  Residents from throughout Delmarva filed into the Somers Cove Marina Saturday to take a step back in history as they walked onto the decks of buy boats.  The boats, a dozen of which were docked at the marina for a reunion, used to purchase oysters from the harvesting boats and transport them to dock, where they could be sold to oyster processing houses in Crisfield.  Jay Tawes, organizer of the event, said he expected up to 500 people to visit the marina throughout the reunion to remember the region's maritime history and to teach it to the next generation.
  "The kids fell in love with these boats," Tawes said. "So these boats lend themselves to the charm of not only the older people that remember them, but to the younger people that see the charm in them. Three of four of these kids said 'I want to go raise money and buy one of these boats.' "  The buy boats were popular during the 1920s and 1930s when production was at a peak, however became rare in the mid-20th century when Maryland passed a law requiring watermen to bring their catches directly to shore for better accounting of harvests and taxes.  Since then, those interested in the history of buy boats have been able to preserve several of them.
   I hope this Sunday is pleasant for you, and that you enjoy the Olympic coverage - 5 channels to choose from is a blast!