After all the abuse that Michigan has taken at the hands of the sunbelt, I just have to indulge in a moment of regional schadenfreude. Here in Michigan, we've been enjoying blue skies and 70-odd degree days, and my tomato plants are still blooming. So, hey, California, how you doin'?

• boingboing - Southern CA wildfires: good Lord they are huge.

• California Requests Declaration of National Emergency Over Fires - "a clear indication that this is a fire possibly worse than anything in California's history."