Sad

          Caption: NASA/Goddard, NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. 

          Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS’s thermal bands, are outlined in red.                      http://go.nasa.gov/1hXITML #EarthRightNow

WHERE THERE'S SMOKE: Washington state continues to be in the news in ways you don't want to be. Specifically, the wildfires continue to rage, so much so, in fact, that even NASA is reporting on it from on high.

The photo above was taken on August 23, from NASA's Aqua satellite's MODIS instrument. Unfortunately, Washsingotn is not alone in the wildfire crisis. According to Inciweb, an aggregating website for U.S. wildfires, there are 40 active fires in California, with the largest being the Happy Camp Complex Fire, which has burned over 134,000 acres. Fortunately, it's now 100 percent contained, but there are "scores of other fires in California that are burning 30, 40, and 50 thousand acres at the same time.  A good portion of the state is currently on fire," per the press release. 

Meanwhile, Oregon has 19 active wildfires, the largest being the Cornet-Windy Ridge Fire, which has grown to over 103,887 acres.  Ignited by a lightning strike on August 10, it's currently 80% contained.  

Here in the Evergreen state, 27 active fires are listed on Inciweb as of yesterday, the largest continuing to be the Okanogan Complex fire located east of Twisp.  Ignited by a lightning strike on August 15, it's now over 239,000 acres, and it's only 10 percent contained. 

This natural-color satellite image was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on August 23, 2015. 

UNDER THE BRIDGE: For months now, as we've headed southbound out of our neighborhood, we've often passed a woman, standing on a small concrete island near the Staples store. She'd stand at the east end of the Magnolia (Garfield) Bridge, always smiling at cars passing by, holding a tattered piece of cardboard with the words "It Could Always Be Worse" scrawled upon it. .

Last night, we drove home from Kennedy's birthday party, crossing over the bridge to home at 9 p.m. sharp. By 9:25, sirens were blaring. The "It Could Have Been Worse" woman with the sign, lived in a tent under the bridge, and she had been beaten to death, by another person living in a tent, under the bridge. 

Neighborhood blog coverage here: http://www.magnoliavoice.com/2015/08/25/murder-under-the-magnolia-bridge/

Local station KOMO news had an interview with her husband tonight. He shared a tent with the murder victim, and was brutally beaten himself. Once out of the hospital, he was back on the street. Back under the bridge. You can see the interview here: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Bridge-attack-survivor-he-thought-I-was-the-devil-or-something-322887211.html?tab=video&c=y

And here's KIRO's coverage about the attack. 

We talked about what happened today, and it's just so sad on so many levels.
There's just so much so wrong with all of this.