With coming fires and Fallen Soldiers

I have cried a lot since the 15th. There have been a few close-to-home hits over the past few days...

For starters, the Southern California Wildfires. I have a lot of friends and family members who were in harms way during the uncontrolled periods these fires were raging. It completely reminds us that we are NOT in control of everything in our lives, no matter what we think. It doesn't matter how much money you have, you can still have your ass handed to you by Mother Nature. It's a sad, unfortunate state... and tons of families are now going to have to deal with the unbearable process of rebuilding. Good luck to them, and anybody that can spare anything at all should donate to the cause...

The smoke from the fires spanned hundreds of miles..casting a morbid smog on everything, creating perpetual mid-light, suspending solar-induced good moods into an uncertain fog of depression.

This is about a block from my friend Tia's home, in Lone Pine, CA. I lived there for 2 years, from 1999-2001, graduating HS. It's a town with roughly 2,000 people in it. My class was about 25.
On October 18, a friend from that time and town, Wayne Geiger, was killed in Iraq. He was the first deployed Military personnel from either Inyo or Mono county to die during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The first since the war started 6 years ago.
There is so much to be said about Wayne. We were relatively close in High School. He was a very close friend to a very close friend of mine, and also my younger sister. We are both hard headed and did not get along at times, but such is growing up. I loved who he was.
He will be missed. Thank you for everything Wayne...


nothing else matters right now. Call your friends and family and tell them how much you love and appreciate them.