Yesterday's fire in Estes Park is under control. It burned 20 acres, destroyed 20 houses and one other structure. If there is a good thing about it, it is that it was in town so they could control it quickly because if it'd been in the forest, it would still be burning out of control. Another good thing is that maybe it woke people up. It scared a lot of tourists out of town, and will probably keep some away. We're still fine, though. I just have to keep reassuring my people who have reservations that all is well.

On the scanner, I heard the town police talking about how the fire was caused by someone burning trash - two witnesses reported it. There is a statewide fire ban, so I wonder why the two witnesses didn't call the police when they saw it, or if they didn't want to get that person in trouble, why didn't they speak to them.



That other fire near us rages on, sending smoke north to Wyoming, and sometimes down here to us; today is a bad day. They lost ground yesterday, more acres involved, less containment. The weather is still extremely hot, extremely dry, and a little windy. Tomorrow there will be a chance of thunder storms, but not enough rain to put out any fires that will be caused by lightning, not a good thing. I think I'd rather have it just plain dry until enough moisture comes along to make a difference.

Meanwhile, there are several other fires in the state, including one near Colorado Springs that will no doubt make the national news. It is very near to the city of C. Springs, and several entire towns, including Manitou Springs have been evacuated, 10,000 addresses. It's a huge tourist area, so this will really hurt their business, all those motels and campgrounds.

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I wanted to post this the other day:



I really blame the wide use of cell phones for this parenting style.

I went to college 20 miles from my parents' home. It was a long-distance call (no cell phones in the 70s in case you forgot), and I didn't talk to them for months at a time. Had to learn to make my own decisions, and put to use all the manners and respect for others they taught me growing up.

Nowadays, college students (and adults for that matter) speak to their parents many times a day, and the parents in turn fret about all the minutiae of their kids' lives to co-workers and friends: they have a test, they don't know how they did on the test, they didn't do well on the test; they are tired, they feel good. What a waste of time for all concerned, and most particularly the third parties who have to listen to all this crap. I'm not a parent, but surely other parents can't be interested in hearing a blow-by-blow of their friends' childrens' lives.

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A couple of weeks ago we tidied our garage and discovered a bunch of paint and cleaners we didn't know we have. Mr. Troutbend discovered a full gallon of roof paint so he applied it to the pump house. It looks lovely.



Speaking of roofing, our metal roofing project on the house is starting tomorrow morning. I don't know if the hammering is going to dislodge a lot of dust from the ceilings. Someone told me to cover the house contents with sheets because of this. That would be quite a project, so I am on Wait and See status.