Rick's Daily Journal

+80 pm.....213....Looks like I lost a post to some technical difficulty....we have moved up to third place for most forest fires ever......3.5 million acres burning surrounding Fairbanks.....lots of cabins burned along with all the trees and heavens knows how many little furry critters...still smoky conditions but not as bad as before but still smoky can not see the mountains.....and inversions at night make it worse.....day before yesterday we had lightening which caused a lot more new fires....fires crews are stretched real slim...party in the villages come rainy season next month.....good for them they need the money.....be diversified

+82 pm....212....Another hot day in Fairbanks.....+97 this afternoon.....this house just does not cool down.....+88 in the living room and my office has to be +100 or more as I am dripping sweat.....lake temperature is like bath water according to the kids.....smoky skies and incredibly dry weather.....this place would go up like a can of gas if anyone threw down a match....grass is turning brown and the willows are turning brown too.....4 million acres burning and climbing....first time that I can recall that they called up firefighters from outside to help with the conflagration that besets us....the fruit is awesome this year....putting my affairs in order

+78 pm....208.....what a hot, dry and smoky summer we are having....wind changed direction and now we are being bestowed upon by an entirely different fire.....at least this fire is further away so the smoke is not as bad.....transmission started giving me problems last week so I took it in and they found it had a leak in one of the hoses.....modern transmissions are now all computerized and require a special computer to talk to the transmission......vastly different from when I was teenager.....got the camp trailer repaired also so we are good to go camping....Burnie was taken off all her medications per Hollys orders.....my sister Holly was up here last weekend for a short visit.....her girls sure are big.....time flys when you are not paying attention.....am exercising everyday and watching what I eat....hopefully it is not too little too late.....can you say sweat

+71 pm...210.....Finally the smoke departed this morning and we got to see an azure sky......been over a week living in the pall of many forest fires....this has to be the worst season in my lifetime for fires and just general fire conditions....there is a statewide burn ban which says a lot since southeast is a rain forest....fireworks sales are banned and they even banned charcoal barbques....this place is like the christmas tree in National Lampoons Christmas Vacation where the uncle lights up a stogie.....did not do much today but babysit the grandkids as Rainee and John both worked....we then went to the beach and had an outlawed barbque and R & J went jetsking....Walter disappeared from Bretts house yesterday which means only one thing *sigh*.....Brett called me up at 2 am to give me the bad news.....lots of paperwork to get caught up on this evening.....finish filling out my passport application so I can go to China if all the pieces fall into place and I have any extra money.....birds are back and singing tonight......it is like the harkening of all clear