From Wildlife To Wildfires

Hello Friends!

Happy Monday. Next week it will be September and summer will officially be over, at least per school schedules that dictate our personal schedules.

Many of you know there was a devastating fire here in Auburn yesterday. Many of you called to make sure we were okay and we are. The fire was in north Auburn and really did some damage. Last I heard, sixty homes were burned to the ground and many area businesses. I sure hope those families have friends as great as you guys! You made us feel really good reaching out.

We spent this weekend camping in Coloma on the American river. It was a really great time. We went with Steve, Roberta, and Julie. On Friday night, there was a group of firefighters doing water rescue training and their victims decided not to show up. Julie and Roberta were happy to help! It was quite an experience to watch these guys work in an ice cold rushing river...in the dark! The other exciting thing that happened was while we were visiting by the campfire. We were listening to satellite radio, hair bands from the 80's reminiscing about where we were and what we were doing back then when the dogs went crazy! Monty went running off and Riley was pulling his lead tight. The guys looked around and determined, it was nothing. We went back to laughing when Dave got big eyes and said, "Look!" As we turned to look, we saw the rear of a skunk, tail strait up and positioned to fire. We all tried to move away quickly, except Dave who realized that Riley was in his crate just to the right of the skunk and Mason was asleep on a lounge chair directly in the line of fire. As I climbed over Dave, literally, over the top of his head, the skunk scurried away. I'm a little embarrassed that I completely forgot Mason was there until the skunk was gone and it occurred to me that I wanted to be out of "spray-range" so I could assess how best to rescue Mason and Riley! Yeah, right! As the critter made his way down the line of campsites, we saw lights focus on the riverbank, and squeals and screams just like the ones we'd just let out. It was a very funny moment, and for the record, skunks are not as cute from that angle! We slept under the stars, ate s'mores, and panned for gold. We didn't strike it rich, but we had fun!

For the next two weeks, I am up to my eyeballs in gloves and trade show preparations. We are planning to have our pre-sale live on the 1st, but I'll send out an official announcement so you know. Hopefully, I'll remember to post some pictures of our weekend and when I do, I'll send you the link. I hope you are well and thank you for calling to make sure we were okay!

With love,
Kathy