A Burnt Park and Aces Cracked

Near where I live is a beautiful park with a fabulous lake (pictured here) and an incredible trail system. Its only a 5 minute drive from my house . I am there just about everyday either running the trails by myself or hiking with my dog. The lake is beautiful, there is a nice sandy beach and they don't allow boats with gas motors. Just an ideal spot. Two nights ago we almost lost it all. It only took a few minutes and the hills were ablaze. It was only great work by the local fireman from 4 different fire stations who got the fire under control before the park and nearby houses were destroyed. They were lucky. Next time they might not be so lucky.

How did it start?? 2 or 3 (the numbers vary depending on who you talk to) kids under the age of twelve playing with matches or quite possibly on purpose decided to start the fire . What were they thinking when they did this?? My question is why were these kids in the park after dinner by themselves with no parental supervision?? Anyways I guess the kids managed to run off before they were caught. The police are actively trying to determine who they are but no luck so far.

I was at the park yesterday and a TV crew from one of the local stations were there and asked me if I thought the parents of the kids who started this fire should pay for the costs if they are caught. I said yes. Parents need to be responsible for what there kids do. I guess the firefighting costs are in the thousands. I am sure lots of parents might not agree with me but that's the way I feel. Anyways they showed my interview on TV last night and I got a few comments about it.

You see I lived through a summer a few years back in Kelowna where a fire which was started by lightning destroyed over 100 homes in the city where I lived. It was incredibly scary watching this fire night after night advance towards our city and there wasn't a thing they could do to stop it. They brought in the 100's of extra firefighters and even set up a camp in a nearby park to house them. If you have ever seen a fire that's totally out of control and the damage that can be caused by it you would know what I mean. We were just lucky that the only thing lost was homes and no lives that summer. What happened in Kelowna could easily have been repeated if our local fireman hadn't got it under control. I really hope these kids are caught or I worry that they may do it again.

I played my regular Monday night live game last night and I was out before we even had one orbit at our table. I chopped an early pot when dealt A8 and with a board of 222A6 someone else also had an Ace. The very next hand I was dealt pocket Aces. Second to act and with blinds at 100/200 I raised to 800. I got 3 callers . HMMM with Aces I really only like one caller so I was a bit worried. Anyways flop comes Q95 rainbow. The BB checked and action was on me. I really wanted to end the pot right there. Too many people in so I pushed. I got snap called by one guy and I knew I was in trouble. Everyone else folded. Sure enough he had pocket Queens. His trips held up and I was heading home. Not sure what else I could have done in that spot. I didn't want to give anybody another card. Still mulling over in my mind my play. The old saying always rings true. You win small pots with pocket Aces or lose big ones.