Linda, Cindy and I went for a hike this afternoon up and around Johnny Cake Mountain.

When we were at the top, we saw a huge cloud of smoke to the north of us. Cindy called 911 and they told her that this fire had already been reported. We assumed the fire was quite far east of our place. But, I had the shock of my life when I drove home from Linda's house!! The fire trucks were at MY house. Some man was motioning me to turn my car around as I got closer to the farm. I am sure I sounded hysterical trying to tell him: "That is my house!!" It turned out to be a huge fire in the woods between our house and the bog. Six fire departments responded to this call. One, from Harwinton, said they were just there to watch our house. The firefighters said the fire was moving west at about five feet per minute. Peter first smelled smoke and then saw the flames.........he was the one who called 911.

The person on the top of the cooler was posted there to watch the flames to see if they were going to get close enough to need to protect the house.

They called an ambulance to stand-by...

There is no fire road down to the bog in back of the house.

Their only water supply was this little stream. They had to carry down a pump and all the hoses they needed.

When I got home, the fire was pretty much out, but Peter was helping put out the little fires that were still smoldering.

Here are some scenes from the fire.

Fifteen or more acres had burned........

Look at this poor birch..........

These are just some of the men and women in the woods.

Peter and Tim brought the tractor down into the woods as far as they could.

They helped them load all their equipment on the trailer and pulled them all up the hill.

I can't imagine how many feet of hose they needed to get the water from the stream to the fire!

All the firefighters had to have their pulse and blood pressure checked before they could leave.

The bees came this week........

Look at how much our bee keeper had to secure these hives to protect them from the bears knocking them over.

Frances was on the East Coast last week....

We got together at Pat's house........

Isn't it amazing how we haven't changed a bit!!?!!

Hawaii Day 11....our last day.

Linda and I went for an early morning walk and came across a place hidden in the bushes where they prepare the pig for that evening's luau.

Linda took these pictues........

Leaving Hawaii........

Here's a photo-shopped picture of Linda's last look at our view from our hotel.......

Our tour guide Larry managed a big smile for us at the airport...

Linda took this last picture of Hawaii's beautiful ocean......

Hawaii Day 10

In the morning, we had a bus tour to Waimea Canyon..... They call this Hawaii's Grand Canyon.. only greener.

Someone told me that I would see lots of rainbows on Hawaii. This was the only one I saw so I guess that means we had great weather!

Our afternoon walk............

I think this next picture really represents Linda's feeling of FINALLY visiting Hawaii!

I was pretty far away from Linda while I was taking these pictures of her on this cliff. Later, she told me that she had slipped........ and it looks like I caught her just at that moment.

In the late afternoon, Linda and I played in the 5 1/2 acres of pools this resort had.

We were so busy that this was the ONLY time I read...........

Hawaii Day 9

Linda gave me a helicopter ride around Kauai for a Christmas present!!!!

....this is our shadow on the ground.

Does anybody remember the TV show .... Fantasy Island?? These are the falls that were in the background.

...the Na Pali Coast.

The ride was so smooth....it was like riding in a car!