At this juncture I'm going to depart from our usual fare of amazing macro flowers and insects, the breathtaking sky and landscapes, the splendor in the grass, and, beginning here, present several photos of an event that occurred a couple of weeks ago. As I commenced outside on my regular early morning walk, I was startled by the sight of an automobile about a block away, enveloped in flames and belching smoke, with the driver and passengers standing closeby holding their hands over their mouths in disbelief. So, as if preprogrammed, and with the sound of approaching sirens in my ears, I raced back to my place -- as best an old coot can race -- grabbed my camera, and hurried back to the scene of action, and found our local firefighters had already arrived and doused the flames. Now only if they had held off for a couple more minutes, providing me the opportunity to take spectacular shots! Oh well, that's their job, thankfully they're good at what they do, so I really can't complain. At least they were considerate enough to leave a lot of smoke and action for me to photograph. Be that as it may, here is the first of several of the best photos of the many I took. Moral of the story: leave a little earlier and ALWAYS carry your camera. Enjoy!!! Canon PowerShot A80