Sounds like we won't see Uncle Dale again this year. From the current firefighting headlines, I'd guess he won't be home at all again this season. I can't remember the last time I saw him. This little blurb on naming fires was kind of interesting. I thought I should start using official names--I still say "Dale was on Storm King," when I should say, "Dale was at the South Canyon fire, but no one would know what I meant, anyway.

Anyway, I don't think my mom even knows what fire he's on. It just seems strange that every year I see Dean, Ernie, Rosella, Fern and my mom, but never the mythical Uncle Dale. It's like he's always walking away just before we catch up to him. We go out to the smokejumper base, and he's just left. We go up to Winthrop or Hart's Pass, and he's there, but only because everyone has funny stories about him there as a kid. I know he exists, because I see other little signs of him, like this photo page. But I never see him in the flesh. A little strange.