The other evening we were sitting in our cool basement after dinner when Amanda called my iPhone on FaceTime. We were in the middle of a violent TV episode of Ray Donovan, so it was nice being instantly transported to their backyard, where Nova and Maya were eating messy watermelon, screaming and running through a sprinkler in the evening heat. How about that? These are the days of miracle and wonder.
Amanda and I don't use FaceTime on every call, but I love it when we can. It's kind of amazing that those girls won't remember a time when you couldn't see the person you're talking to on the phone. Amanda tells me when she asks if they want to talk to Nana and Grandpa, they look at the screen first instead of putting the phone to their ear.
Sweet summer feet
It's very hot and dry again in eastern Washington. Even on the jolting around iPhone, we could see the air in Twisp was still smoky. The fire activity increased again this week and temperatures reached 105 degrees in the Methow Valley. Pockets of unburned vegetation are burning and sending up plumes of smoke within the fire perimeter.
The Carlton Complex fire has burned 251,025 acres and is 67% contained. That is the good news, along with thousands of firefighters still camped in the area if something new pops up. Amanda mentioned they're getting used to the once unheard of sound of helicopters flying overhead.
Amanda is back working at the medical clinic this week and hearing horrific stories about how some people lost everything they owned, or would have, if it hadn't been for firefighters saving their home. Others had to run or drive for their lives, escaping through flames at the last minute. Disasters pick on people in random ways.
As the fire begins to die down, the short media attention span goes elsewhere, but the Methow Valley will be recovering from this one for years to come. It's still a serious situation, but a big improvement from this scene on July 19, when the fire was just a few miles outside Twisp.
I can think of no more stirring symbol of man's humanity to man than a fire engine.
~Kurt Vonnegut
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