Ayden and his dad on the approach to the Matanuska Glacier. We spent an afternoon wandering the leading edge of the glacier and just checking out the scenery.

Being the frugal sort that I am, a child carrier was never even a consideration. Ayden spends most of our hikes together standing in one of my backpacks. By the end of the longer ones, he has worked his way into a sitting position in the bottom.

There isn't much that needs to be said about having pride in your department when you look at these photographs. I'm sure that they were talking about these men when it was said, "If you do this job well, they is nothing more noble you will do with your life."

These are the men we honor or do disservice to by the service we render. They are the reason that I put my boots in front of the rig every morning. They are the reason I answer every call like it's my first and my last.

I have been studying sources of survival information for the last year and a half or so, hoping to put together a program for our church along those lines. They ARE rebuilding the Teton Dam after all!!


Whether you keep your bail-out bag in an armored SUV and buy MREs buy the ton or ever had an inkling of a notion of a fleeting thought about survival, Greg Davenport is your man. He is a retired military SERE (survival, evasion, resistance, escape) instructor and now trains in the private world. His books and website, gregdavenport.com, are incredibly useful.

September 11

This past week we remembered the lives lost on Sept 11, 2001. We had a memorial behind Station 1 that evening and spent some time hanging out with the guys. Pipes and drums played and it was really great. I'm disappointed more every year with the turn out to these events. It's been seven years now and there were very few people in attendance who weren't firemen or their families. I spoke with a Captain whose son got a new edition to a history book (printed in 2004). The attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon were not mentioned. I get to know more and more of the men killed that day as I read their stories and get to know their lives. I will never say that I felt the loss that their brothers in New York felt, but I consider them my brothers and still hold dear their lives.

New Link

I've added a link that I have really enjoyed. Xavier is a practicing RN and he shares a lot of the same opinions that I do. Being 20 years my senior, Xavier has proven to be an invaluable resource for many questions as well as just a great read. Check it out. It's an entertaining, thought provoking and resource filled site.