Just about getting burned out really gets your attention. Actually getting burned out is indescribably devastating. Lots of people around here have had both experiences recently - the Angora Fire at South Lake Tahoe (254 homes destroyed) and the still smoldering Hawken Fire (no homes lost) at the western edge of Reno. These are back-to-back poster children for everyone, not just those with homes near wildland fire potential. All of us need to be über careful with anything hot, doubly so if you are anywhere near the undeveloped lands surrounding the Truckee Meadows and beyond.

By life on the edge, I mean the edge of the Great Basin. Reno is in an interesting spot, geographically speaking. The Sierra Nevada loom immediately to the west, and the desert unrolls to the east all the way to Salt Lake City. We get a mixed bag climate, something from each environment, but still on the dry side in the whole scheme of things. And when it's extra dry like now, it's dry, dry, dry. I'm trying to keep cool, be careful with water use, and be a good neighbor by not doing stupid or irresponsible stuff that would get my name on the news as the moron who started the next big blaze.