Fire and Rain

As anyone who reads or watches the news knows, the weather has been reeking havoc on our fair nation. First tornadoes, then the Mississippi and other rivers started to rise with too much rain. Then, it started getting personal when my dad's hometown, Columbus, Indiana went under water. I have an aunt and uncle who still live there as well as other relatives in the general vicinity. After a phone call to make sure they were alright (they were), then my aunt sent some pictures. Here is one of them:

After I found out that my aunt and uncle were okay, the next town I heard was in trouble was Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Well, I know a few people in Cedar Rapids, so back on the phone and on the e-mail to find out how they are. All are fine, but the city is still bad in general. Then I start to hear about St. Louis, then St. Charles and St. Peters, where my parents and grandparents live. Several phone calls later, all is okay with the people I know. Joel then took a trip to Wisconsin and Missouri and saw the Mississippi not far from the Arch. It's crazy!

Then, on Saturday, Northern California started burning. First, a fire on the Napa-Solano county line. It's not near enough to do any harm to us, but first we saw a big plume of smoke, then we couldn't see much of anything as the smoke filled the valley. Its still pretty murky as the fire is not yet out. Then, a freak dry lighting storm started hundreds of smaller fires in the Bay Area and beyond. A couple of big fires were also going in the South Bay, but have since been contained. Joel's flight home to SFO last night was delayed an hour because of smoke. It's crazy!

Hope all is well where you are.