... has been 'scattered', to say the very least!
On Monday morning, I received a call from one of my old-timey cancer patient customers, telling me he was arriving at Houston Hobby AP later that day, and could I possibly pick him up?
Well, of course I could, and I stopped by Kroger's 'on the way' to pick up a bunch of grape salad (for me) and a smaller container for him, which he loves but usually can't ingest because of upcoming or just completed tests.
It was so wonderful to see him again! Tall (6'1" or so), thin, and smiling as always, he presented me with a hardback copy of Nelson DeMille's latest tome (674 pages altogether), The Gate House.
There was a kind of peculiar look in his eyes as he handed me the book, so I asked, "Have you read this yet?"
[He and I have had many discussions over the years about books, hobbies, etc., and he has previously given me other hardback books that were downright gifts, but I just knew that this presentation was different!]
"No," he replied. "I'll need you to return it to me when I come back in February."
I'm on page 50, folks ... only 600+ more to go, and let me tell you, it's great!
I had a most peculiar night (just passed), sleeping-wise. I hit the pillow after 1:00 this morning, and woke up -- somewhat fitfully -- about two and a half hours later.
Siren noises, emergency/large vehicles backing up, etc. ... noises that shouldn't have been there, but were. My subconscious kept trying to incorporate them into a dream and failed.
I had to get up to see if there was anything extraordinary going on outside.
I peered through the blinds and could see several emergency vehicles, including fire trucks and an ambulance. I knew that I was not dreaming. This was actually occurring.
I unlocked the front door and walked up the street (perhaps half a block) ... could see three fire trucks, but no more ambulances at that time, thank goodness! ... saw water coming out of firemen's hoses onto a house (not one of the townhouses) that couldn't have been more than a block from me.
There was a fellow sitting in an idling pickup truck in our 'common driveway'. I asked, "What's going on?"
He showed me pictures that he had taken earlier of an absolutely raging fire! Can't believe I slept through almost the whole thing, but I did.
I don't like fires (unless I set them, as in a fireplace). I don't know the residents of that house, but it's been totalled. Terrible!
Too close for 'comfort'. All fires are abominable, imo, unless they're deliberately and carefully set, but this one really hit kind of close to home!
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2 comments:
Great little post this. Sorry to hear about the fire and have been awoken myself once or twice in life in similar ways. Thank heaven you're safe!
When I was at college, 6 of us lived in an apartment upstairs above a family in a home right off campus. One night -middle of the night- the family had a small fire in their home. It was contained and actually out by the time the firetruck got to the house. 3 of us (myself included) slept through the entire thing. 1 of my roommates woke up, didn't see smoke, and fell back asleep. Later she said she thought it was all a dream and didn't think she woke up all the way. 2 other roommates woke up, went outside, and watched all the hub-bub for 30 minutes.
And I slept through it all. :(
We had some neighbors 3 blocks down the road who had a fire that completely gutted their home in less than 15 minutes. Saturday morning, parents asleep, kids watching cartoons and cooking breakfast at the stove by themselves. The youngest, Ryan, who was 9 or 10 at the time got involved with watching cartoons instead of paying attention to the pancakes on the stove. A home and all belongings can be gone so quickly. Everyone ended up safe, even the couple of kittens they found the next day.
So glad you are ok!!!!!
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