Current Wildfires in the United States

Boulder, Colorado has had "smokey" air for the past week.  The sky is hazy and you smell smoke as soon as you step outside or open your windows.  Even though we had good late snows, the prolonged heat and dry breezes and winds suck the moisture out of everything.  We have three plants on the balcony that I soak every morning, until water runs into the containing saucer, but they are dry as a bone the following morning.
    We have frequent small fires that our local firefighters quench as fast as they can.  Yesterday someone tossed a burning cigarette butt into the dry brush near a trail head on Flagstaff Mountain.  It burned 5 acres, but was under control, and then out quickly.  During the summer we have small fires like this on a daily basis in almost every county of the state - and sometimes there are six or more that have started in each county every day.
   I've been having problems breathing with my asthma and COPD, and am not out walking as much as I should be - but, I can breathe much easier staying inside with the humidifier on.  In any event, I decided to do some research on what is burning where in my country.  I have left out of my information burns that were scheduled to clear underbrush and fires that are less than 50 acres in area.  Even so, the number of wildfires and the areas that have burned, or are now burning is astonishing to me.
   Out west, eleven states have wildfires, and the Okeefenokee Swamp in Georgia is still smoldering.  Here is a list of states with fires, and the acreage involved:
Alaska  -         69,814 acres
Arizona  -      171,718 acres
California -      24,922 acres
Colorado -       34,411 acres
Idaho  -          191,643 acres
Montana -        10,447 acres
Nevada -        227,396 acres
New Mexico    81,220 acres
Utah  -              72,252 acres
Washington -        700 acres
Wyoming -         1,962 acres
The Okeefenokee Swamp in Georgia has   152, 515 acres  that are burning or smoldering.

Altogether, that adds up to 1,039,000 acres burning.  One million thirty-nine thousand acres equals 1,623.43 square miles.  The state of Rhode Island is a little larger than 1,000 square miles.  The state of Delaware is only 330 square miles greater in area than the areas currently on fire in the western United States and Georgia.
   That, to me, is mind-boggling.

Asthma Attack

I've been reading a book about courier and travel services after the final return and expulsion of Napoleon in Europe.  As I love all kinds of equines, I am always interested in reading about the mounts provided for the couriers, as well as the breeds of horses used to pull various vehicles at different times of the year.  The current book is full of all sorts of fascinating snippets of information.  So when I had an especially vivid dream last night that involved horses and a carriage, I wasn't that surprised.  The carriage was a beautifully detailed cabriolet, and there were two Holsteiners, harnessed in tandem.  The Holsteins each had hind socks and blazes, and were seal bays.  There was a very correct driver, who had a single female passenger.  She looked like a "Gibson Girl" in feature and hairstyle, but was wearing a brilliant teal colored velvet dress, along with a jaunty little hat - that looked quite a bit like a miniature version of Errol Flynn's feathered green cap in "The Adventures of Robin Hood."  This lady had ordered the carriage out, and the coachman was following her orders.  I was completely livid because I loved the horses dearly and they might have been lamed by going out on such a horrible road.    I was reproaching the woman at the top of my lungs, but was trying to keep my voice low - and I started having trouble breathing.  It got to the point that I could barely breathe - I could not breathe in nor could I exhale.  The woman sat there and kept looking at me without twitching an eye…  That infuriated me even more, and then I really felt like I was choking.
   I awoke in the middle of an asthma attack - sitting upright in bed, and gasping, coughing, and sputtering for breath.  I used my inhaler that I keep beside the bed, and was able to breathe freely again in about  twenty minutes.  Because I couldn't go back to sleep immediately, I was able to view the Blood Moon early this morning.  It was beautiful!  -  But the kits were leery of returning to bed with me this morning…  Ah, well….  And now, early in the afternoon, my ribs are sore…  SUch is the price paid for COOPD and asthma.