As you might have heard, there are currently 1,000 wildfires in Northern California that have burned 205,000 acres. 

And firefighters from Idaho are here to help.

They are joining 11,000 firefighters from 41 states to put out the fires that are coming at the very beginning of the fire season. 

To give an idea of the extent of the problem, flights at some local airports have been canceled because of low visibility, and some of the local news helicopters can't even get decent footage from the air because there's not enough visibility to navigate the helicopters in the fire areas.

People are being advised to stay indoors when possible, even in parts of Northern California not hit by the fires.

When I went bicycling along the beach the other day, I looked out at the horizon, only to see a cloud of brown haze hovering over the Pacific Ocean.

Well, I certainly hope the fires are put out soon. Right now, there doesn't seem to be any end in sight.

According to one Northern California newspaper, http://www.triplicate.com/n...,  the out-of-state firefighters, including those from Idaho, have set up tents. The fires are so severe, they don't know how long they'll stay.  

Right now, everyone here is getting ready for the San Fransisco Pride Parade.

It's what used to be called the Gay Pride Parade, but I guess they took out the "gay" to be more inclusive.

This year is supposed to be the biggest Pride Parade in the city's history -- possibly because of the new gay marriage legalization.

To be honest, growing up in the Castro (gay) district, I wasn't always happy with those special gay days. I thought they were loud, and all of those police barricades made it difficult to get into one's own neighborhood.

This year, maybe I'll join the parade for the first time.

Thinking about my city as an adult can be similar to thinking about your upbringing once you're all grown up -- it can take some time to appreciate the values that were instilled in you as a youngster.

When I was a kid, I disliked that my parents packed me only healthy lunches, made me study French starting in kindergarten, made me do substantial housework for a small allowance and gave me the earliest curfew of anyone I knew. Looking back, I see that it was good I had that sort of discipline.

Similarly, I sometimes found the atmosphere in San Francisco and California too strict. The tightly enforced driving laws, which many states eventually followed with stringent seatbelt, helmet and DUI laws; the constant earthquake drills in school that would eventually save lives during "the big one"; and the environmental regulations that are too numerous to name, but which include a cap on water consumption for each family in order to avoid severe drought and the precise separation of garbage: glass, cans, plastics, paper and compost -- to keep the landfills from overflowing.   

Maybe we, San Franciscans, are not so weird after all, and perhaps history will eventually show us to be ahead of the times.

The other day, I was walking down Castro Street, on my way to buy organic seaweed soap, when I saw a woman rummaging frantically through the garbage. Thinking she was homeless, my heart immediately went out to her. As I got closer, I saw that she was cleanly dressed, and not homeless at all.

Evidently, she had accidentally dropped her can of soda into the wrong section of the trash bin.  She wanted to make sure it got into the correct recycling section. Apparently, sometimes you have to get your hands dirty to do the right thing.

That woman recycling on Castro Street -- that's the San Francisco I'm proud of.

I came back home to San Francisco a little over a week ago. Even though this is where I’m from, coming here from Pocatello has been a little bit of an adjustment.

First of all, when I crossed the border from Nevada into California, I was immediately taken aback by the price of gasoline – nearly $5 a gallon. After beginning to fill up the tank, a man pulled up from behind, and yelled, “Move!” So long to the mild-mannered people of Middle America.

When I woke up the next morning, I turned on the news – only to see that the top stories were: 1) Tree sitters in Berkeley and 2) Gay marriages. Yes, I really am home.

The city has actually been in a very festive mood this past week. Restaurants and storefronts are all decked out in wedding decorations – his-and-his, hers-and-hers. The windows of many residences are displaying Obama posters.

Thursday was “spare the air” day. That meant all public transportation was free, the trains and buses all day and the ferries until noon.

I was thinking about taking a ferry across the bay to Marin. But then I decided against it when I heard that a man from Marin had written a letter to the editor (to the San Francisco Chronicle) complaining that the “day trippers” from the city were making Marin too crowded.

For those who don’t know, Marin is the wealthiest county in California, with a higher rate of Democratic voters than San Francisco County or even Alameda County (home to Berkeley). I guess when conservatives talk about the “liberal elite” they’re referring to Marin.

Needless to say, Marin merchants didn’t see my business there on Thursday.  

On Friday, I went to the opera with my parents. It was opera in the park, the baseball park that is. We took the streetcar downtown, which took us right to the stadium, which is right on the waterfront. 

More than 23,000 people showed up to the park to see a live broadcast from the Opera House. Sailboats glided toward the stadium to get closer to the music.

We showed up just in time to sing the national anthem, which was followed by a speech by the mayor. It was probably the best version of the Star Spangled Banner I’d ever heard. Of course, it wasn’t your typical ball park orchestra.

Singing the national anthem, I really started listening to the words, especially the last ones: the land of the free and the home of the brave. It made me think of all of the sacrifices people in my city had made over the years: standing up for gay civil rights, sitting in trees for nearly 2 years to protect Mother Nature, protesting an illegal war and now working hard to elect a president who will once again make us proud to be Americans.

Well, I will be returning to the Middle East in a few days to brush up on my Arabic and write more articles. I am so excited about the direction in which my city and country are headed.