Colorado Burning

It's almost unbelievable - the number of fires currently burning in this state are larger than the entirety of Singapore.  With the wind direction, we've watched the smoke but mostly not been affected by it, save a few days where the wind shifted and we actually got up in the middle of the night in a near panic as the smoke smell was so strong in our house that we wondered if we were on fire.  87,000 plus acres and many homes burned just to the north of us.  The fire south of us has consumed 350 homes so far and is still burning strong.  The closest fire, just near Boulder is a scant 6 miles from us.  We watched it quickly spread.  My son commented that it looked like a volcano as we would see billowing smoke and then jets of orange fire shooting up to the sky, so thick and bright that it really did look like lava escaping the crust of the earth.

It's so sad to think of the destruction, of the people who have lost everything.  It makes you consider what would you take if you only had a short time to evacuate.  I've spent a lot of time pondering this over the past weeks and you know what?  I've come to the conclusion that my list is really very short.  Family and pets, wedding pictures, baby pictures, passports, my laptop, cell phone, my children's favorite toy that they sleep with every night.  That's about it.  Sure there are some things I would miss if they were gone, but it's all really just stuff when you get down to it, and not terribly important.

We live in such a beautiful place.  I am thankful for so much - the beauty and majesty of Colorado, the bravery and self sacrifice of all of the people fighting the fires - there are stories of firefighters losing their own homes as they battled the blaze to save the homes of others.  Thankful for the prayers of everyone for all of us here in Colorado, thankful that even  though we are seeing unbelievable destruction, that we are seeing very little loss of life, and yes, thankful that we have not had to evacuate ourselves.  But it is early in the fire season.....

We have added a charity to our website, Colorado Fire Support.  This is not a specific charity, as there are several reputable organizations taking donations for fire victims, including the Red Cross.  Supporting charitable causes is part of LamanBlu's mission in protecting the world for our children.  There have been many children affected by this fire and I can only imagine how frightening it must be for them.  When you purchase something from our website, also "purchase" the Giving Back item and you can select Colorado Fire Support as your charity of choice.  We will make a cash donation for every item you purchase - this is not added to your bill, nor to the price of the garment you are buying, it comes out of our profits and we are honored to be able to give it.  http://www.lamanblu.com/#!shop/productsstackergalleryv21=0  And please continue your prayers, they make a difference!

Salu,

Holli