Friday Linky Love

You have probably already heard that there’s an enormous wildfire here in Boulder – in the mountains bordering Boulder this past week. It was the headline story on Today News and made the homepage of CNN.com.

It started Labor Day, leaving thousands of people evacuated, homeless and houseless…devoid of all their possessions. It happened very fast. I live downtown, but right against the mountains and we have to keep all our windows closed, a heavy smoke settled throughout all of Boulder and it smells like one enormous campfire. It stings your eyes and it has affected the whole city. I have friends who have lost their houses and are still evacuated, with no idea if their house is standing yet.

It’s called the four mile fire, ravaging over 7,000 acres (Vail is the biggest ski resort in the United States and that’s 5,000 acres for comparison). It’s only 30% contained, and that was last night. They’re thinking it might still be 10 more days. It’s wildly upsetting and scary to realize, the power of nature and to count your blessings. The community has amazed me – almost every restaurant downtown is offering free meals to evacuees, shelters are opening up, people are opening up their homes, humane society’s are taking pets and “citizen journalists” have turned to Twitter when the reverse 911 system didn’t work, the police asked Twitter to speak up to let people know when and where to evacuate: #boulderfire. The support is incredible.

Send us rain (maybe a rain dance?) and good thoughts over here in Boulder.

Onto some reading (we must go on, right?):

• OkTrends (OkCupids well-written blog): The REAL ‘Stuff White People Like’ (Data is funny)
• 210 Consulting: 22 Businesses Called and NONE Answered!
• Mr. Orr’s Classroom: The Tiered System of Expectations

It’s no secret I love food and I’ve written a few posts for other foodie blog friends – this week, I guest posted for Sabera’s OneLifeToEat with a recipe I’ve been toying with and updating: Cilantro Ginger Chutney With Coconut. I have a background in photography (dark room and digital) so I took all the photos myself, as well. Yummy, enjoy.