Happy weekend all.

     We have had a busy week.  It has been super hot, with 5 days in a row over 100 degrees, 2 days reached 105 degrees, and no measurable rain for weeks.  We had house guests:  2 of our nephews, who are wonderful young men, stayed with us from Sat. to Wed.  It was great having them around.  While here, they bagged their first of Colorado's 58 14ers, which are peaks over 14000 feet in altitude.  They climbed Mt. Bierstadt.  We wish we could have hiked with them.  Really, really great accomplishment, guys!  Those are tough.

     Colorado fire update:  The fire by Ft. Collins should be contained by Sunday.  There is a new fire by Colorado Springs, the Waldo Canyon fire, which has destroyed 346 homes and killed 2 people.  It is 30% contained.  There are some incredible pictures to be seen here:
http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2012/06/27/colorado-wildfires-waldo-canyon-fire-colorado-springs/5732/

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/photo-colorado-wildfire-near-air-force-falcon-stadium-110954267--ncaaf.html

     Please hope for rain.  If you would like to help go to:  
                 www.helpcoloradonow.org
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     Other news:
     Jogging increases life expectancy by 6.2 years for men, 5.6 years for women.  This is according to the ongoing Copenhagen Heart Study which was begun in 1975.  Jogging also was linked with better cholesterol levels, better bone density, improved immune function, improved cardiac function, lower blood pressure, better body weight control, better psychological well-being, and reduced markers for inflammation.  Good news all around, especially for us joggers who are perennial runner-wanna-bees, but who will probably always remain in the jogger category.

     Other research news out this week confirms what we all have known; that calories are not all created equal.  Calories-in do not necessarily equal calories-out. Some calories send blood sugar levels soaring after a meal....a bad thing.  Other calories do not.  Elevated glucose and insulin levels make you fat because insulin is a fat storage hormone. When insulin levels are high, dietary carbs are converted to fat and stored as fat.  When insulin levels are low, fatty acids are mobilized from fat tissue, and fat deposits shrink.  The takeaway, for me, is to at least avoid sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and other simple carbs, such as white flour.
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Quotations of the day

"It looks like hell. I would imagine it felt like a nuclear bomb went off. There was fire everywhere. Everything had a square shape to it because it was foundations. Everything you put water on, it was just swallowing it." - Firefighter Rich Rexach, describing the devastation in Colorado Springs, Colo., site of the worst wildfires in state history.

By The Associated Press

The Associated Press