The First Incident of 2009

It’s been a few days since I last updated the blog. Hope every one’s New Year is starting out well. Our first two days of 2009 were calm and quiet but that changed on Saturday….

Saturday in our part of Missouri was a beautiful day. I had promised Cade we’d play Batman Lego on the Wii that day. I held him off until almost 10:00 and we played until 3:00 that afternoon. I was determined to finish the chapter we were on so we wouldn’t have to start over (I’m not confident in my knowledge of saving games on the Wii). We did take breaks in there like for lunch and laundry and looking up the cheats on the internet, etc. You know, pretty common stuff. Jay decided to vacate the house because Cade and I tend to argue and be snippy at each other when we play Batman. A common problem when two headstrong individuals work together and they each want their characters to run in the opposite direction. This created some tense moments in the living room. Remember, we got the Wii so we could have quality family time playing it. Nothing says quality time like a 6 year old yelling at you because you are Robin and you’re running the wrong way.

Anyway, back to the nice day…..I had the living rooms windows open and Jay was working outside. He’d occasionally look through the windows to make sure one of us hadn’t knocked the other one out with the Wii remote. I think he could hear some of the louder squabbles through the open windows. Jay was trying to take advantage of the nice day by getting a few projects done around the outside of the house. Then, like we all do, he pushed it too far. You know the feeling you get when you’ve got one more thing you want to get done and it should be simple but everything blows up on you. That’s what happened to Jay that afternoon.

Jay and Lyle had built some fence on the back side of our property during Christmas break to keep some show cattle for this next summer. The only thing lacking was a gate and that required some welding in a couple of small spots. It was windy and dry and you can probably guess where this is going. Jay caught some grass on fire. It started out about the size of a dinner plate and Jay thought he could get it. Then the wind changed direction and it became too much for him. He called me in the house and told me to bring out the fire extinguisher. I didn’t have time to put on shoes so I ripped off my socks and sprinted out behind our shop. The smoke was awful and I couldn’t breathe or see for a few seconds and I wasn’t much help because I had bare feet. Jay yelled at me to call the fire department. I started sprinting back to the house when two neighbors saw me and came running over to help. They were actually on the phone with the fire department. They were trying to ask me how the fire truck needed to get in, could it go through this spot or did it need to go around, etc. I was useless…..Jay and Lyle had built this fence and I had no idea where the gates where , where the truck needed to go, etc. I know the neighbors thought I was a moron. How could I not know where the fire truck could get through?

Let me explain the relationship I have with our property. I don’t ever go much past the flower bed we have in the back yard. I know we only have less then three acres, but it might as well be 300. I hardly ever go out to the shop and the area behind it. Even though I can see most of the back of the property from the kitchen window, it feels like it's miles and miles away. Yes Jay makes fun of me all the time because you'd think we lived on Southfork instead of our little spot of grass. The backyard is Jay’s domain and I don’t go out there unless there is an emergency like a fire. Therefore, I was a complete idiot trying to tell the neighbors that I had no idea where the fire truck needed to go. They took off to help Jay and I realized I needed to get shoes before I could help. That’s when I remembered that Charlie was in his pen and he was right in line with the fire and smoke. I sprinted to his pen and he was the most subdued I had seen him since the time he got ran over by the bike. I ran back to the house with him and threw him in the garage. Cade saw me running up the deck steps and he kept asking me if Charlie was alive because the dog was laying so still. Cade didn’t ask about Jay, he was worried about his dog. I got my shoes, told Cade to stay in the house and specifically in the living room so I’d know where he was at and then ran back outside. By the time I got to the fire Jay and the neighbors had gotten it out. The fire department showed up about that time but we were able to send them on their way. Thanks to the neighbors we didn’t lose the shop or the little shed that Jay built for the show calves. The whole ordeal probably didn’t last 10 minutes, but it seemed like 15 hours while we were experiencing it. If you’re wondering Charlie bounced right back to his normal self and Jay put the welder away for the rest of the day.