I am typing this post on my phone, in a hospital waiting room halfway across the state from my apartment. So I will keep it brief...

While fighting Oregon wildfires on farmland where he works (or adjacent to it), my dad was driving a Caterpillar vehicle. It got caught on an embankment of some sort and rolled over. My dad was in the cab and avoided being crushed but was still seriously injured. He is scheduled for surgery tonight on his spinal column, but that may be pushed back some and maybe even until tomorrow.

This is not the first such surgery my dad has had to endure in his life, having crashed his motorcycle around 15 years prior. This new injury has some risk of being complicated by the prior one, but we are told the prognosis is good despite obvious risks associated with what is by necessity a delicate surgery.

I am with my dad, my mom, my wife and other close family as we support one another and hope for the best resolution possible. That means I will miss some work and am away from my computer for another day, if not more. I don’t know how often I will be checking in as the situation develops, but I hope all goes well and I will be back home with good news before long. Thanks for your understanding!