Family photo 2013

Family photo 2013

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Life on the Colorado Prarie.

During quiet time yesterday afternoon I went into my bathroom prepared to give it a good scouring. I casually looked out the window and noticed big plumes of smoke rising up from the neighboring grassland. Only a 2 lane highway separates our property from theirs.
Taking a closer look, I see that whatdoyaknowbygolly, there are big orange flames producing that smoke.
Yikes.
What did I do, you ask?
I did what any reasonable, logical, simply *genius* mother at home with her 5 children would do.
I called Daddy at work.

Me: Um, hey Bob. Did I catch you at a good time? Uh, yeah, well our house is about to catch on fire. What should I do?
Him: Go ahead and call the Fire Department and start collecting some things in case you need to leave the house.
Me: Oh, right. Yeah. I'll do that. So you mean call 911? Right?
Him: Yes, 911.
Me: Well, alright then. I guess I better go now. Hope you're having a nice day.
Me: (To the 911 operator) Hi there. Sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to let you know there is a fire in our area.
Operator: We have 9 fires east of town. They are.......
Are you in one of those areas?
Me: Yes.
Operator: Crews know about them.
Me (in my mind): Well, that's awfully comforting. I mean, at least they're aware. Never mind the fact that they are NOT PRESENT.
Me: Ok then, thank you.

The kids and I watched out the window, and we prayed.
Our neighbor came over asking for 800 gallons of water. Oh sure, I said. Go ahead. Take our garden hose and put that raging monster out.
I gathered our most valued personal possessions and put them in the car.
Traffic was stopping along the highway. Presumably calling the Fire Dept, making them even more aware.
We continued to watch.
Both on the t.v. and out our window we saw a barn go up in smoke. Obliterated.
Trucks came and guarded the perimeter of the house adjacent to the barn.
Boons-ville type of 4wd fire truck things showed up and started working on the grass.
The sky and ground had an eerie orange glow.
They got the fire under control and we decided to stay put.
Sleeping babies were none the wiser that we were almost refugees.
The fires were sparked by lightening.
That's just about all the excitement we need for this summer.
Thank God we were safe, along with our home.
The only real effect we experienced was campfire aromatherapy in our house all night.
So, we went outside and had smores after dinner.

Just another day in Prariedise.

6 comments:

Alicia said...

Oh my goodness! How scary. I am thankful you are all safe!

chrisnoelle said...

yikes! this musta been AFTER I talked to you........scary. I just went through a discussion with S and A about tornadoes and what we would ''grab'' if needed......they insisted that we save our turtle. I disagreed. What were some of the things that you realized were the only things worth saving?
love ya!

chrisnoelle said...

glad you all are safe. :)

Holly said...

OH MY!!!!

Shanan Strange said...

Thank the Lord that you all are safe and that the fire was put out in time. I can't imagine how terrifying that was. I am always afraid of fire.. and floods.

Katy said...

Wow! How frightening. I'm glad you all are safe and sound.

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