Daybreak Over the Mountains
I am wondering when summer is going to come to the Pacific Northwest. It has been cold and rainy here for the entire month of June and so far July is the same. It is supposed to be a bit better for the 4th of July afternoon and next weeks forecast looks like it could be summer. I watch the news and hear about the heat in the east and midwest and am actually glad we are not having that, but it could be a bit warmer here.
I feel so badly for the people and forests in Colorado and other states that are burning up. My husband was a forester with the United States Forest Service for 33 years and fought fire every summer. We didn't make a lot of money working for the government like so many people seem to believe so we were glad when we could get that extra income fighting fire. Raising 3 little ones took more money than his wages actually brought in. And we were very frugal. We lived in the mountains, close to the ranger station. He hunted for most of our meat, I canned fruits and vegetables, made jams and jellies, baked all of our sourdough bread and we pretty much lived off the land. But it was a great way to raise children and it proved to be so when our 3 turned out to be such wonderful, hard working adults. I wouldn't change a thing.
Our daughter says she can still smell the smoky smell her Dad had when he came home from fighting fires. Fighting fire 50 years ago was a lot different than it is now.
Anyway, I feel sad for the people that lost their homes. But they should never allow houses to be built in the forests like they do now. I see these big beautiful houses that are built on mountainsides and know what is eventually going to happen. One lightning strike or a discarded cigarette butt is all it takes for hundreds to lose their homes, trees lost and insurance companies raising everyone's insurance because of all they had to put out in claims. And putting all the firefighters lives in danger to try to save the houses that probably shouldn't be there in the first place.
Don't know where all that came from!
Since I am on a rant I might as well rant about a designer on Mozilla Persona themes that seems to watch a lot of my designs and then copy them pretty much verbatim. They can't be refused for being copies because they aren't "exact" copies. It doesn't take a genius to just look through the designs and figure out who I am talking about. Apparently she checks out my wallpapers, too and uses them for some of her designs. I could and probably should file against her, but she is a reviewer and I don't want to make any enemies. So, I grin and bear it, but the grin is not a pretty thing to see!
Still waiting for our 4th great grandchild to be born. He or she is overdue and Mama is very uncomfortable . I had 3 dreams last week that it was a girl and even named her in my dreams. We haven't had a baby girl born in our family in over 30 years so a sweet little girl would be nice, but another boy added to our family will be welcomed just as much. They are one of the few parents -to -be that don't want to know the sex of the baby and I have to admit it does add to the excitement.
I hope you all have a safe 4th of July. Remember it is not just a holiday for fireworks and barbecues. Most of our families have members that lost their lives and limbs fighting to keep our country free. Think about them while you are chowing down on that hot dog or whatever. We are going to spend a "quiet" Independence Day at home and I think we have decided on pizza! Not a very 4th of July food, but makes it easy!
Be safe, everyone.
Dragonfly Daisies
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