Colorado Wildfires; Opening Night of Chincoteague Carnival

Oh, my....    Aaron Hernandez is charged with murder, and is being looked at as a suspect in a drive-by shooting where two men were killed.  Such a sad report to read about an ex-Gator!  He has disappointed me entirely.   -   And I am feeling great sympathy for the divorce and feuding parents of Dylan Redwine.  The young teen disappeared from his father's home at Thanksgiving last year. A few of his bones have been identified via DNA testing this week - they were found scattered in a forest about 10 miles from the father's house.
  Our wildfires here in Colorado continue to grow.  Several are completely contained, and the Rocky Mountain National Park was surprised, but pleased, to announce the Fern Lake wildfire is completely burnt out.  We've had several local fires that have been less than 10 acres and have been quickly put out.  The Wild-Hacking Complex fire is still burning, as is the Strontia Springs-Waterton Canyon fire.  The Brush Creek fire is 97% contained.  The East Fork fire (on the western side of the Divide) i sat 447 acres, while the East Peak  fire is 75% contained, having burned over 13,500 acres, 12 homes and 4 out buildings.  The Trickle Mountain fire is 85% contained and had burned 277 acres.  The Ox Cart fire has burned 150 acres, and the Jefferson County Lillis Lane fire is 75% contained and has destroyed one house.  That leaves the West Fork Complex fire, which is still zero percent contained, and has burned over 83,000 acres so far.
   The forecast is for rain and thunderstorms for the next four evenings.  I would love to see it rain, rain hard. Not enough to flood those places that have just been burned, but enough to ensure that the current fires are extinguished - but I doubt that will happen.
    And tonight my heart is on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, specifically at the Chincoteague Island Carnival Grounds, because tonight is the Opening Night of the 88th Annual Chincoteague Fireman's Carnival!  How I wish I was there!

Add Another Colorado Wildfire

Five of the wildfires burning in Colorado are 100% contained - they will not spread any farther, unless we have some really crazy weather.  One wildfire is 95% contained, and another is 90 % contained.  The bad news is that 14 are still burning with zero containment.  At last report, the West Fork Complex fire had burned 79,182 acres, and the East Peak fire has consumed 13,491.  The we get to add the new Ox Cart fire, which is at 1200 acres.  It's amazing to me to realize how much land has been consumed by fire - just adding those three numbers comes to the equivalent of 146.68 square miles - and that is only five of the twenty-one large, noted fires burning.....
   Well, having spilled my vitriol about Custer yesterday, I feel much more light-hearted.  - And one must remember, the  only reason Custer's name continues to be remembered today, is because Libbie, his widow, lived for another 57 years after his death; and she spent every waking moment trying to convince people that her husband was a hero.....
   The New England Patriots are known for keeping their players "under wraps" with the media, so I was prepared for a summer without word of Tim Tebow.  Instead, I'm hearing and reading and seeing that Aaron Hernandez, one of the team's star running backs, has been released from his team contract after being arrested.  The charges have yet to be announced, but they are in connection with a murder, and are, possibly, just "obstruction of justice" charges - but we don't know yet.  I'd much rather be reading about Tebow's work-outs and his charitable efforts, in all honesty.
   The other "big" story is the trial of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida.  I find it interesting that six women are sitting on the jury, and that 5 of them are Caucasian.  Mr. Zimmerman is Hispanic and is accused of killing an unarmed African-American teen... Mr. Zimmerman called in the young man as being "suspicious" as a part of his Neighborhood Watch duties; he then followed the young man, even though he he told by police not to follow Mr. Martin.  Mr. Zimmerman claims to have shot the young man in self defense.  The young man was unarmed and was carrying a can of tea and a package of Skittles; but he was shot through the heart at a close enough range to leave gun powder burns on his sweatshirt.... Somehow that just doesn't make sense to me....