Swimmies

Here they are- The Swimmies! Taken before their escape to the interwebz.

If you click on the picture, it will get bigger!

Arizona, Crispy as a Taco and twice as HOT!

Yes, the big fire is still burning in the White Mountains of Eastern AZ. No containment at all, and Eagar is on standby to evacuate. I saw pictures of the sky in Albuquerque...it was yellow with smoke and ash. Yellow! People are being cautioned to stay indoors and keep the air conditioners off in ABQ.

For us in the northwest of the state, things are dry, but not on fire, yet. We've been lucky, because the winds are blowing from southwest to northeast, and we haven't even had smoke or ash. But poor New Mexico! The town of Luna NM has been warned to be ready to evacuate.

There have been few reports of loss of buildings, but firefighters say part of that is because they can't see in the smoke, and planes and helicopters have been grounded by the winds. Over 300 square miles has been blackened.

The economy is based to a large extent on tourism. Tourism is based on people who want to go enjoy the the cool pines and mountains... but that will be impossible to do. There's nothing quite so sad as the land after a fire.. blackened sticks, pointing to the sky.

Pray for the evacuees, and pray for rain.

Arizona's on Fire!

The eastern part of Arizona, with tinder-dry forests and beautiful dry meadows, is called "the high country"- It's a getaway for the people of the Phoenix area in the summer, when temps reach 100 and beyond. Some of the most sought-after places for cabins in the woods, the town of Greer, Alpine, Nutrioso and others are on evacuation watch from the 3rd biggest fire in AZ history. The Wallow fire - no idea why the name, but that's what they call it.

We've had very little rain, and plenty of high wind and dry lightning storms. 144,000 acres is burning. (UPDATE: Over 200,000 acres)

Pray for rain.