Wednesday, August 9, 2017

August 9 – “A late-night blast … in verse”

Well, that was an eye-opener.  Literally. 

The Astros game had ended, they lost, but gave fight. 
My wife and I, long since abed, for the long summer’s night. 
The lights were down, the shades were drawn, ah, blissful sleep it seems.
Our muscles eased, the covers drawn, our minds engaged in dreams.
When out of the peace there arose such a clatter,
We jerked from pour slumber to see what was the matter.
I grabbed for my cell phone, the source of the blast
And focused intently on that message last.
And there in the back light ‘midst clamour exposed
Was one simple message, “There’s rain here, in droves.”
Well, thank you, dear Siri for that bit of news.
But next time I ask you to please let us snooze.

Yep.  Simple notification of lots of rain and flooding.  In Houston.  All’s well on the Island so far.  That’s more than could be said for us yesterday, however.  By this time our fire fighters were already hard at work battling a fire at a coffee shop on Broadway.  And before I could send in my blog, a second fire sprang up on the other end of the Island at a residence in Sea Isle.  Once our guys got that one under control, before lunch could even be served, yet a third fire was reported, this one in a room at Shriner’s Burn Hospital.  Now that’s a tough way to start the day.  Our fire fighters were amazing, as usual, though.  They handled all three situations professionally and admirably.  Nice job, GFD.

On a milder note, Chris and I went to the big shoe sale at Academy.  Buy one pair and get the second for half price.  I picked my Nikes out right away, but it took a while to find something that Chris felt comfortable in.  She finally settled on some Reeboks, and we headed to check out.  The Nikes were of course more expensive, so we had figured the Reeboks at half price would still give us a good deal.  But imagine our surprise when the checker rang up the Reeboks first, and then gave us the Nikes for half price.  Not sure if that was by design or not, but the computer seemed to agree with her decision, so it was fine with us.  Oh, and to top it off, she asked me what size T-shirt I wore.  After a brief wait, she handed me a free Reeboks/Academy T-shirt.  Not a bad deal at all. 

And next door?  There are finally some steps leading all the way up those treacherous five feet into the front door.  I wondered whether that one nosy neighbor would take advantage of the new opportunity to engage in snoopdom.  My query lasted all of one return trip into the house to make sure the Astros game hadn’t started yet.  Er, I mean, I guess that’s what his hesitation was all about.  He finally headed for the stairs, though.  And quickly proceeded to bump his head on one of the beams sticking out.  That had to hurt.  Once inside, he must have roamed the floor plan and been amazed at the outrageous use of space.  There was a tiny front living area open to the kitchen which had a tiny little laundry area in it.  Down the hall to the left were two teeny little bedrooms with a bathroom in between.  To the right was a master suite, with a bathroom and a really big walk-in closet.  I don’t know any of the dimensions, but my word for the floor plan?  Skinny.  Long and skinny.  Stay tuned.

1 Peter 2:13-1 says, “Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.  For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”

Father, thank you again for caring for our fire fighters during an especially busy day yesterday.  Amen.


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