Remembering Notre Dame

I couldn't write this post yesterday.  I was just too upset.  My son called and asked if I was watching the news (as if, since my grandson was here).  I turned on CNN as instructed and instantly fell into tears.  The emotional effect was just overwhelming.

I blogged about my first visit to Notre Dame in 1969 just last year.  There are so many wonderful memories about this beautiful structure.  It wasn't until this morning that I was able to search my old picture albums from my 1999 visit.  At the time, the entire front of the cathedral was covered in scaffolding as it was being cleaned for the year 2000 celebration.

Already, nearly $600 million dollars had been pledged to rebuild the cathedral.  The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is collecting donations here in the USA.  It seems like an easier task to collect the money than it will be to rebuild.  But Europeans have restored many churches and palaces destroyed by their wars and I have no doubt this will be any different.

Here are a few of my photos from 1999.

Fire in the Desert

I am sure that many of you have seen or read about the devastation of fires in California this year.  And they are still burning.  I will share with you some of what I saw in Utah and Colorado this fall.  First up is a pic of a fire in Utah as we traveled from Salt Lake City to Price.  I was not able to get a good shot of the helicopter over the fire.

I had read several warnings about fire possibilities in the area due to the hot dry weather, but never thought I'd actually see a fire.

When we got to Mesa Verde we saw the aftermath of lightning strike fires from a few years ago.

Fires are devastating.  Thankfully, we really do not have fire issues where I live.  We do have snow issues as can be seen in this photo from this morning.

I am not ready for this.