Fire!

So the big news in Boulder the last week has been the Fourmile Canyon Fire, which has become the most destructive in the history of the State of Colorado from the standpoint of homes lost, almost 170. The homes lie up in the mountains to the west of town, and for a time, due to high winds, there was some danger that the fire would spread into town, although it sounds like they have it under control at this point.

I drove into town after softball on Tuesday night and the whole downtown area was choked with smoke. When I got home my clothes and hair had that campfire smell that is really unpleasant when you’re not actually sitting around a campfire.

I do know some of the people who lost houses in the fire. Not well, but they are people and families that I have known in the past. It does kind of make you think about how miserable it would be to lose your house. Have it be there one minute, and the next, poof, gone. And it’s also interesting to me how it take something happening in your backyard to really affect you. Everyone was affected in some way by the tragedies in New Orleans and Haiti. But they still seem far away for some reason. Even when my grandparents almost lost their home in Arizona a year ago, it still seemed far. Seeing your hometown on the verge of burning packs a little more punch for some reason.

On the work front, I haven’t gotten too much done the last two days. I have two reasons for this. The first reason has a lot to do with those anxieties that I voiced in my previous post. I was starting to think how it would probably be better to know who I’m writing for before I do too much writing. Which is kind of dumb. But kind of makes sense. I don’t know.

The other reason is baseball. The Rockies are starting to do their September thing again, which is always terribly engrossing. And distracting. They had a day game yesterday which I didn’t want to miss, and I’m glad I didn’t because they won on a straight steal of home, which is one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen.

The one thing I did get done, in the spirit of this project — taking action and not wasting time: I hopped on the internet, and I compiled a list of about 20 email addresses to contact that hopefully will get me some information that would help me with my little problem. And then I emailed all 20 of those addresses asking the salient questions. Which took me a while to get psyched up for, because it makes me nervesy. So I will keep you up to date if and when the responses start rolling in, and hopefully I’ll get a lead or two that will help me get my portfolio finished. Fingers crossed. Wish me luck.

Cool thing that happened today: I got some stationery in the mail from Matt Gaffney and his awesome crossword contest that he runs. Hooray!

2 Comments:

  1. Wait, is this a list of recommendation peeps or jazz peeps to record your piece? I’s confused. It’s been a long night tho. I broke two beer glasses and the boss man asked me if I was Jewish. I needa goda bed.

  2. I was being a little coy on purpose. If it works out I’ll expand on the deets.

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