The little fiber optic Christmas tree has been taken down and boxed up awaiting next Christmas. At nine am the sun poked through the clouds and I ran for my tools and ladder to take down the outside lights. Five minutes into the job, the sun disappeared and rain began to fall again. Hopefully, before the day ends I will be able to finish the job.
Last night, a few minutes after I posted my last entry, I smelled smoke. It was very intense, almost choking. It was already dark but in my outside light I could see that my lanai was thick with smoke. I ran outside thinking that one of my neighbor's houses was on fire. After investigating I discovered that the smoke was coming from across Kaneohe Bay Drive. I then heard a loud explosion followed by several smaller pops. Through the rain and smoke I saw flames coming through the windows and roof of a house just down the street. Sadly, a house occupied by a young couple with a two year old child, and a dog was full on ablaze and the fire company, one mile away, still was not there. Anyway, the house quickly burned to the ground but thanks to this problematic rain the houses on either side, one only twenty feet away, were not seriously damaged. The fire company was late getting there due to the fact that they were already out on call and had been responding to flooding all day long. Eventually five seperate fire companies responded and they got it under control and prevented it from spreading to other homes. I absolutly hate fires, and because of an experience when I was very young, were a childhood friend was killed in a house fire that I witnessed, it could probably be said that I have a fire phobia. Fires are always a very unpleasant thing but when they happen at the first of the new year, at night, and in a heavy rain, i can think of nothing more unpleasant. I understand that it started in the Christmas tree. That is one reason I will never have a live Christmas tree in my house. Each year here, the shipment of trees come into the State at Thanksgiving time. They are harvested in the Northwest in October so by the first of January they are very dry and they are just accidents waiting to happen. Pine becomes like a torch with just the slightest spark from a bad electrical connection. I do not know the people who lived there but I feel so bad for them. I donated some bed linens, a blanket, a couple of old wind breaker jackets and some dog food to the agency who came to see to their needs. The husband has family here so hopfully they will be cared for until they can find a new place to live.
Duke continues to be accepting of his recovery requirements and his rehabilitation. I hope that he continues to be this obedient.
Time for the first of the NFL playoffs to start.....see you later.
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