Monday, September 14, 2009

Spectacular California Fire Images

Smoke from the Station Fire rises over downtown Los Angeles Monday, Aug. 31, 2009.
2Smoke billows from the Station Fire in Los Angeles in this image taken from NASA's Terra satellite August 30, 2009.
A Los Angeles County fire fighter monitors hot spots as he fights the Station Fire August 30, 2009 in Acton, California.
A backfire burns near homes during the Station Fire in La Crescenta, California, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009.
A vehicle travels past a wall of flames at the Station Fire in the Acton, California area north of Los Angeles, August 30, 2009.
Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies and residents help evacuate horses as the Station fire burns in the hills above Acton, California on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009
A modified Martin Mars seaplane tanker aircraft drops water trying to contain a fire threat to a historic observatory on Mount Wilson northeast of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Sept. 01, 2009. Mount Wilson is home not only to the observatory but numerous television, radio and cell phone antennas serving the metropolitan area.
A U.S. Forest Service hotshot wipes his face while taking a break from fighting the the Station Fire August 31, 2009 in Tujunga, California.
A large cloud of smoke from the Station Fire is seen above Angeles National Forest as the blaze marches westward towards the communities of Sunland and Tujanga on August 31, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.
Smoke, ashes and embers fly into the air from a canyon just off Highway 2 in the Angeles National Forest Friday, Aug. 28, 2009 near La Canada Flintridge, California.
The Los Angeles skyline is obscured by smoke from the Station Fire north of the city August 31, 2009.
Firefighters look for hotspots on a burnt landscape in the Acton area in California on August 31, 2009.
Firefighters take a break during the Station Fire in La Crescenta, California, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009.
Charred trees are silhouetted by the glow of the Station Fire August 30, 2009 in Acton, California.
A firefighter photographs caged tigers awaiting transport in a trailer as workers and volunteers evacuate animals from the Wildlife Waystation in Little Tujunga Canyon as the Station Fire draws nearer on September 1, 2009 near Tujunga, California. The wildlife sanctuary houses a large number of tigers, lions, bears, chimpanzees, mountain lions and numerous other animals in the brush-covered mountains outside of the city.
Smoke rises and ashes glow on hills that burned during the Station fire in the Acton area of Los Angeles, California August 30, 2009.
Julie Garcia, 59, and her daughter Jessi Garcia, 19, hug each other on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009 after seeing their home destroyed by the Station Fire that swept through their neighborhood on La Paloma Canyon Road at Vogel Flat in Tujunga, California
A helicopter is just visible before large clouds of smoke from the Station Fire above Angeles National Forest on August 31, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.
A motorcycle burns during the Station Fire in the Big Tujunga area of Los Angeles, California August 29, 2009.
A helicopter carrying water passes in front of the sun as it flies over a residential area during the Station Fire in La Crescenta, California, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009.
A firefighter looks out from the fire break that kept a fire in the Deukmejian Wilderness Park, background, from jumping into a neighborhood in the La Crescenta section of Glendale, California on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009.
Sitting on a roof, two residents watch a wildfire burn during the Station Fire in La Crescenta, California, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009.
Ted Hamm uses a firehose to mop up hot spots after the Station Fire swept through his property August 30, 2009 in Acton, California.
Mushrooming clouds rise to sky as the Station Fire gradually marches west towards the communities of Acton Agua, Dulce, and Sunland Tujanga on August 31, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.
Firefighters work a threatened house in the La Crescenta section of Glendale, California, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009.
Melted metal from a vehicle that burned during the Station Fire is seen in the Tujunga area of Los Angeles, California September 1, 2009.
A smoke cloud raises from the wildfires near Mount Wilson in Los Angeles, on Monday, Aug. 31, 2009.
Fire fighters walk through thick smoke from the Station Fire August 30, 2009 in Acton, California.
The sun sets in a red sky as smoke from a wildfire enshrouds Los Angeles, California on September 1, 2009.
A deer walks through charred forest on Mount Gleason in the Angeles National Forest August 31, 2009 near Acton, California.
Firefighters start a controlled burn during the Station Fire in the Angeles National Forest beside the suburb of Glendale on the outskirts of Los Angeles city on September 1, 2009.
Spot fires glow after the Station Fire burned through August 30, 2009 in Acton, California.
A small unknown structure burns during the Station Fire in the Big Tujunga canyon area of Los Angeles, California August 29, 2009.
Parts of the front of this vehicle melted during the Station Fire in the Tujunga area of Los Angeles, California September 1, 2009.
The ruins of a home or vacaton cabin, destroyed in the Station fire in an area known as Stonyvale in Big Tujunga Canyon in the Angeles National Forest northwest of the city of Los Angeles, seen Tuesday morning, Sept. 1, 2009.
Firefighters climb up a hill during the Station Fire in La Crescenta, California, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009.
U.S. Forest Service firefighters monitor a backfire on August 31, 2009 in La Crescenta, California.
From a lakeside dock in Yucaipa Regional Park, the McHenry family cheers as a Sikorsky S64 Sky Crane firefighting helicopter goes "in the dip" for another load of water in Yucaipa, California on Tuesday, Sept 1, 2009. The parents and their son spent the night camping in the park after receiving a mandatory evacuation order from their nearby home.
A DC-10 converted to an air tanker drops fire retardant as the Station fire burns in the hills above Acton, California on Monday, Aug. 31, 2009.
The Station Fire moves through brush September 1, 2009 in Sylmar, California
Firefighters monitor a fire as it burns near the suburb of Glendale on the outskirts of Los Angeles city on September 1, 2009.
Angeles National Forest, in the hills outside of Los Angeles currently has several wildfires tearing through it, the largest of which - named the Station Fire - has so far burned over 140,000 acres, destroyed nearly 100 structures, and claimed the lives of two firefighters whose vehicle fell from a road into a steep canyon. Evacuation orders are in place for thousands in communities around the city, and residents of Los Angeles itself are contending with thick smoke and ash hanging in the air, causing air quality to drop to unhealthful levels in many parts. Currently, the Station Fire is estimated to be 22% contained, and favorable weather appears to be aiding the efforts of the firefighters.

Blind

There was a blind girl who hated herself because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She told her boyfriend, 'If I could only see the world, I will marry you.'
One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages came off, she was able to see everything, including her boyfriend.

He asked her,'Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?' The girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The sight of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn't expected that. The thought of looking at them the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him.

Her boyfriend left in tears and days later wrote a note to her saying: 'Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were yours, they were mine.'

This is how the human brain often works when our status changes.
Only a very few remember what life was like before, and who was always by their side in the most painful
situations.

Life Is a Gift

Today :
before you say an unkind word - Think of someone who can't speak.

Before you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone who has nothing to eat.

Before you complain about your husband or wife - Think of someone who's crying out to GOD for a companion.

Today before you complain about life - Think of someone who went too early to heaven.

Before whining about the distance you drive Think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet.

And when you are tired and complain about your job - Think of the unemployed, the disabled, and those who wish they had your job.

And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down - Put a smile on your face and think: you're alive and still around!