if i could give one tip for the CA firefighters:

i hear that it is so hot and windy that the water and stuff they are dropping on the fires is evaporating and blowing away before it even reaches the fires...

my tip:

engineer some type of large water balloon.

maybe not made out of balloon material, but the same concept... drop something that can hold a lot of water, but not release the water until it breaks when it hits the ground at the base of the fire.

hang in there california.

and...

to brighten anyone's day, a fun picture that i never posted this summer.

yes, that is a trailer hitched up to a truck, with a recliner on the hitch.

yes, that is a man reclining in the recliner.

and yes, that is his dog sitting on his lap.

does life get much better than this?

i caught this on the way out to wyoming on my wilderness trip. good stuff.