I started home planning to stop at a specific gas station to fill my tank. As I was sitting there waiting to get to the pumps a fight broke out in front of me. I didn't get concerned until I saw two guns drawn and pointed. I got out of there immediately and called the police. As I was leaving the parking lot I met a police officer headed for the fight. I felt much better seeing him.

I went on south and stopped at James' mother's house. I saw an officer with some pedestrians on the way. He had his code lights on but I didn't think anything of it. I talked with James' mother for a few minutes and then started out again. At the first corner there was an officer sitting with his code lights on. At the second corner there was another officer with lights. By the time I got to the third corner and saw yet another officer with lights I was beginning to get a bit worried. When I saw another officer with a through alley blocked I decided that I needed to leave the area post haste, no stop at that gas station.

I finally found a safe place to stop and fill up, which was good because I was running very low and I didn't want to fill my tank up here where gas is soo very expensive. With my newly filled tank I started the climb to get home. All was going smoothly until I stopped at my favorite espresso stand where they stock sugar free, fat free chai drinks for me. As I was sitting talking with the owner she told me there was a large fire between there and my home. The firefighters had been battling a fire that grew to 80 acres at her last report. As I went on I didn't see much smoke. Then I noticed a TV stations remote broadcast truck and many people looking to the north and there high on a hill were two fires. They were still small, but right now a small fire will grow rapidly into a huge conflagration.

The governor today issued an emergency alert for the whole state banning all outdoor fires since we haven't had appreciable rain since mid July. The whole state is popcorn dry and it is very dangerous. I was watching the clouds all day today. They started this morning with very high wispy cirrus clouds and as the day progressed the clouds became slightly thicker and developed into the real mare's tails that are a precursor of rain. The weather reporters are predicting rain by Friday. Those clouds say it might just come sooner which will be a blessing as long as they don't bring lightening.

The last series of storms brought lots of lightening to the east side of the Cascade mountains, but no rain. That started many wildfires that took many weeks to subdue. We don't need another weather situation like that. Those lightening caused fires destroyed many homes and did all kinds of damage to the forests and animals. Hunting season is just a few days away and I am worried that the hunting activity will cause more fires. I wish they would call off hunting until the rains start.

Well, things have calmed down for me now. I am tired and ready to go to sleep.