Today's word in the TWENTY/TWENTY meme is "chemistry."

Well, the valley is on fire. Again.

The blaze here near my town is mostly contained tonight, but the bigger fire up Swakane Canyon has reached 3,000 acres (and growing). And now there's a fire in Entiat as well. I can only guess somebody decided to play with leftover fireworks or something. What's worrisome is that we've still got two months of summer left, and the hottest days have yet to come. I can only hope that it doesn't get as bad as last time.

Anyway... "chemistry" was not an easy assignment, but eventually I figured out what to do...

NaCl is the chemical composition of... SALT!!

It's... The Bonneville Salt Flats!

Interestingly enough, I passed on visiting the flats once because I thought it would be terribly boring. But then I was on a road trip driving through the area back in 2001 when we decided to stop and take a look. It was surprisingly cool. I had big fun just running around on the brilliantly white surface and gazing out at sparkling salt for as far as the eye can see.

All I needed was Buckaroo Banzai's Jet Car, and my life would have been complete at that very moment.

Which raises the question: Buckaroo Banzai... great movie... or greatest movie?