*woof*

You've heard the joke "How do you get a cat to sound like a dog - pour lighter fluid on it and drop a lit match"

In AZ, just omit the lighter fluid part.

Last winter we had record rainfalls. It was nice, long dry riverbeds were flowing, and wildflowers were abundant. NTS: recover my wildflower pictures from my old laptop.

The summer was hot and mostly dry. All those pretty flowers and bushes began to dry out. Nonexistent winter rains continued the trend. We've already had several forest fires (all caused by some idiots).

The governor, learning from the disaster in LA has already declared a state of emergency to begin preparing for the upcoming fires.

I hope I'm proven wrong. But it looks like we could exceed the damage of the Rodeo-Chedaski fire which burned under half a million acres.

Fire restrictions went into effect this morning along the Rim country. The area covers three national forests, and has already had to fight one fire.