I honestly thought they were Thunderheads

Jaybird

Jaybird is Birdmojo on Xbox Live and Jaybirdmojo on Playstation's network. He's been playing consoles since the Atari 2600 and it was Zork that taught him how to touch-type. If you've got a song for Wednesday, a commercial for Saturday, a recommendation for Tuesday, an essay for Monday, or, heck, just a handful a questions, fire off an email to AskJaybird-at-gmail.com

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28 Responses

  1. greginak says:

    Take care.Report

  2. dexter says:

    Good luck.Report

  3. Stay safe- that is a horrifying picture.Report

  4. Jaybird says:

    We’re on the other side of the highway from the fire. Barring catastrophe, we should be fine.Report

  5. Burt Likko says:

    We had that in my hometown two years ago, and the fires looked just as terrifyingly close to homes as they do in that picture.

    Stay safe, my friends. It’ll be hard to concentrate on anything else for a while, but you do have to sleep.Report

  6. Will H. says:

    I wish you well.Report

  7. Stillwater says:

    Man, that’s one scary picture.

    JB, in my area we’ve got three fires raging right now: the high park fire near FC, one up in Estes park, and a freshy from the lightning this afternoon right at the edge of Boulder. It’s already gobbled up quite a few homes and the late afternoon wind really picked up pushing it closer to the city limits. Smoke and ash is everywhere. Seems like the whole damn state is on fire. The map I looked at musta had about 70 of em.

    Stay safe. And pray for rain.Report

    • James Hanley in reply to Stillwater says:

      You and Jaybird both live in Colorado? I have got to get out there to visit my kin, or at least use them as an excuse for a trip.Report

      • Jaybird in reply to James Hanley says:

        Denver Meetup!

        Let me know a couple of weeks in advance and we can make a day of it.Report

        • James Hanley in reply to Jaybird says:

          I think my Colorado relatives are planning another family reunion next year. I’m not sure yet about going, but the kids totally want to, so it may happen. It’d be really fun to meet you both.

          Are either of you guys into rafting?Report

          • Stillwater in reply to James Hanley says:

            I have my own boat! Two of em. 🙂

            I’d love to meet up with you guys, on the river (if we have water) or somewhere else (if the state isn’t reduced to ash by then). There are a couple of fun rivers pretty close to Denver, too.Report

            • James Hanley in reply to Stillwater says:

              That sounds great. If Jaybird isn’t into running rapids, we can meet him after for drinks. I don’t yet know where the family gathering will be. The last two times it was in Steamboat, but they may be looking for a change. Hopefully not something too far away from the ColSprgs/Denver metroplex.Report

              • Stillwater in reply to James Hanley says:

                Steamboat is a fun place. I lived there for a couple of winters long ago – back when it was a cow town with a ski area. But alas, no really good whitewater nearby. The Yampa is pretty flat until you get further downstream. There’s a day trip on the Colorado outa Kremmling that’s fun, but also no real rapids. There’s a run outa Walden that’s got rapids (loads of em at high water) but it’s a short window in the spring. The nearest place to find mid-summer splashies is a pretty good jump from Steamboat – on the Arkansas near Buena Vista, which is basically in JB’s backyard.Report

              • James Hanley in reply to Stillwater says:

                I took my two older kids on the Yampa two years ago. It was perfect for them, bouncy and splashy so it felt really exciting to them, while I knew there was no actual risk. The guide liked my style so he encouraged me to pony up for a trip on the Eagle, which was a pretty good trip. It was a cold and rainy day, sucky conditions, and the trip began at the top of a wave train caused by the canyon narrowing and the waves bouncing back off the side walls to the center of the river. The guide put me up front since I was the only customer whose skills he knew, and the very first wave went right down inside my jacket. I couldn’t draw breath through the next three waves and seriously though I was going to have a major asthma attack and die. I was paddling furiously, and could feel the lack of oxygen building up. For a minute I was seriously as scared as I’ve ever been on the water. Then we had a short flat stretch and I managed to catch my breath, and the rest of the trip was solid gold. Cold as a monkeyfisher, but awesome.

                I did the Arkansas back in ’84, my first rafting trip ever, when I was on a college program where we were living in Manitou Springs. Still have a scar on my leg from it, too, when I did a header at a big hole and bashed my leg on a rock. It’s weird, a little divot in the meat of the leg that never filled in again. Great river, though.

                Hell, I’m up for being on the water anywhere, anytime. So now I’m persuaded, and just have to convince the wife we need to go to the reunion. (She doesn’t like that side of my family much, and I find it hard to stomach them; Colorado Springs religious right-wingers. Keep them off politics and they’re not bad folks, though.)Report

              • MikeSchilling in reply to James Hanley says:

                Rafting is awesome, and Denver is not that far away by plane, so please keep me in the loop.Report

              • James Hanley in reply to MikeSchilling says:

                If it happens, I’ll be notifying them here at the League. So stick around for at least another year.Report

              • Stillwater in reply to James Hanley says:

                The Eagle trip sounds great. The Ark trip less so. I’ve made it a rule to never hurt myself rafting. Well, Never Again!

                I’ve heard really good things about the Eagle (out of Avon, is that right?). The downside, from what I know, is that the season is really short and high water is GNARLY. Sounds like yo caught the hi end of it.

                And where’d you hurt yourself on the Ark? Was it in Brown Canyon or down in the gorge?Report

              • James Hanley in reply to Stillwater says:

                Actually, the Ark trip was great. The leg bash was actually pretty minor, despite the divot, and every time I notice it I remember the trip. Small price. I wish I could tell you where it happened, but it was 28 years ago. I don’t think it was in the gorge. I just remember the guide saying everyone always stopped paddling too soon on that hole and encouraging us not to, so as everyone else was diving to hold onto a rope I took one more hard pull, just as we went over the lip of the hole, and flipped heels over head (from the front of the raft); went in feet first and didn’t even get the top of my head wet. Pretty funny really, and I didn’t even notice I’d hit my leg until someone pointed out I was bleeding (lightly).

                On the Eagle, it was the first trip they’d been able to take that year, because the water level had just come down enough, so, yeah, it was pretty high water. The guide called it class V, but…no, mostly class III, maybe a one spot that was a IV. Good stuff, though.

                Since you’re in the region and have boats, we’ll assign you the role of trip coordinator, eh?Report

  8. Jaybird says:

    Thanks for the good thoughts, everybody. I’m going to try to get some sleep and dream about something other than smoke.Report

  9. James K says:

    Hey, I didn’t know you lived near a Hellmouth!

    In all seriousness, stay safe out there.Report

  10. Michelle says:

    Fire is scary stuff. We saw enough of it when we lived in the LA area. My parents were evacuated during the big Rancho Bernardo fire–it came within a mile of their house. Far too close for comfort.

    I pray these Colorado fires get put out soon. Please stay safe.Report

  11. North says:

    Good luck old boy, I suppose it’s inopportune to note that the photo is beautiful in a terrible way.Report

    • Jaybird in reply to North says:

      Yeah, there are a number of such pictures floating around that are positively gorgeous except for the houses.

      (As a silly autobiographical note, you could walk to that restaurant I’m always yammering on about from where that picture was taken.)Report

  12. Tod Kelly says:

    Dude! How scary! I hope everything stays away from your place.Report

  13. Erik Kain says:

    This is terrifying. A couple years ago, we were driving just out of town and saw a small plume of smoke on the mountain. On our return drive it looked like a mushroom cloud. The east side was evacuated, and later that year the devastation from the fire turned whole neighborhoods into flood zones. It was scary, and I’m honestly scared it will happen again it’s been so dry.

    Stay safe.Report

  14. Patrick Cahalan says:

    I’m a bit jaded when it comes to fires. Come September – if it’s like previous years – we’ll run at least a week when there is ash all over the car in the morning.Report

  15. Jeff says:

    Best wishes. I hope they get the fire contained, and then out, very soon. Until they do, stay safe.

    (Too bad we don’t have portals. The middle part of England is having torrential rainfall!)Report