Se habla Espanol?

Mexico, MO. Had a WINDY day today. A front was blazing through the plains and blew me around all day. The Harley sucked down almost 2 tanks of gas just getting here. I started the day visiting Lincoln's home in Springfield. It was pretty cool. It is located in an 1800's period block of Springfield which is a National Site. Seeing the St. Louis Arch was really cool. It looks far out as you're approaching the city. After a great salad and baked potato I had to leave a little early to beat the storms.

Mexico is like Germantown but a little more spread out. They have 10,000 people in town, 3 fire stations and 50 volunteers. Asst. Chief Bill and his wife took me out to dinner, thank you very much Bill, and we just got back to the station. The FD is doing SCBA donning training. The FF's carry their gear with them and report to the scene here. I'll be on a cot in the station tonight and will be catching up on my latest philosophy book, "The Tibetan Book of the Dead." It's not as weird as it sounds, pretty positive really.

The arch is definitely something that was better than expected. I'm usually one to admire nature's wonders but this was pretty amazing. To consider the whole thing is welded and has withstood a lot of nature's fury is very cool. I took a dip in the Mississippi to cool off and headed west. The river didn't taste as bad as I thought.

I'm going to Wal-Mart tonight to buy some more toys for the kids tomorrow at Univ. of Kansas Burn Center, which is where I'll be tomorrow at 1pm. Can't wait. To see a kid momentarily forget they are laid up inside a hospital because of the excitement of a new toy is priceless. I feel very lucky to be the person who can help make that happen. The media ran great stories on our fundraiser on tv and the paper in Springfield.

We received donations today from the following FF's:

Dennis of Springfield $12, and Rob of the Little Dixie fire Protection District (Mexico, MO) $10. Thank you both VERY much. One thing that is funny about this world, that I have noticed, is that the people who can barely afford to give anything give all they can. It is very humbling.

Hasta Manana de Mexico Missouri,

Miguel