It was early morning, around 5:00am, when a house in my neighbourhood exploded. I did not hear it, probably because of the noise from the fan, but I woke up a few minutes later because the smell of fire was strong. The dogs woke up too and stood in the middle of the bed, sniffing the air.
It was a terrible fire, and the house was completely destroyed. Many houses nearby were damaged too, windows broken by the heat, siding melted, char marks everywhere. Fortunately, nobody lived in the house that exploded; it was still under construction. The people who lived in the houses nearby were able to evacuate in time and nobody was hurt. We lived a few blocks away, far enough that we were not impacted.
I remember walking by there with the dogs, and staring with amazement at the damage. I had never seen anything like it. Our neighbourhood became a tourist attraction, people driving in from neighbouring areas to see the devastation. Right after that we moved away.
For some reason I awoke this morning thinking about that fire and wondering what caused it. At the time, people were saying it must have been caused by the construction workers exercising inadequate safety precautions. When I looked it up this morning I found several articles (and videos). Turns out it was arson.
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=ec5c1edb-f95a-495c-ae37-029c2b12ad34&k=31992
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Sometimes I am concerned about T. I do not know any other forty year old men that invest time like he does in posting daily Facebook quotes affirming his happiness, and photographs of himself smiling joyfully in his own bathroom mirror. It seems a lot like the behaviour of a troubled fifteen year old girl, and I cannot decide what to make of it, except that methinks thou doth protest too much. Perhaps I read too much into this. But seriously. He's a forty year old man. Do you know any forty year old men that do things like this?
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Last night we, the three of us, went to a "family pub night" in support of J's riding stable, which, in addition to the regular riding lessons she takes, is a non-profit organization that offers therapeutic riding for kids and adults with disabilities. (That sentence is awkward, and I'm too lazy to fix it.)
The pub night involved getting a twenty dollar ticket that bought us each an undercooked hamburger, beer (pop for J), and the joy of hanging out with other horse enthusiasts. We gave J the go-ahead to put in a couple of bids in the silent auction, and then left before we found out if we won or not. None of us are particularly good at this type of event. J called us "antisocialites".
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9 comments:
I was just singing this song today. Okay. Now I'm going to go and read the actual post.
This happened to a house near here except the family was sleeping in it. I think the furnace exploded. Freak sort of thing. The parents were blown out of the house but survived, but tragically their teenaged son who slept in the finished basement was killed. The story haunted me for a while.
And yes, I know a couple of 40-something men who post daily self-affirmations and tons of mirror-photos. Neither genuinely happy, it seems to me, nor particularly well adjusted.
I do love Paul Simon. I had tickets to see Simon and Garfunkel in concert last spring... but Art got a throat problem and the show was postponed. Indefinitely. Sad. I wish Paul had gone on without him.
Oh, your fire sounds much worse than mine. Awful that people were hurt and killed. I think the one that happened where I used to live was an insurance fraud thing.
Wow, so there really are other 40-year old men behaving like this? I'm not sure if that's a comfort or if it's just disturbing.
When I was seven, my family's cabin cruiser exploded on the open ocean and I had to keep myself afloat w/o life jacket for over an hour until some men in a fishing boat picked me up. My family had all been picked up by other boats but somehow I was forgotten.
There are some things that affirmations won't fix.
I'm going to vote for disturbing. In fact, I'm all for trying to see the good in things but there is something about the whole affirmation thing that doesn't sit well with me. It seems false and mindless.
And Holy Hell to Heart's story! That's awful.
Poor T. Probably for the same reason why I spend too much time photoshopping a photo to make myself look well, healthy and in control: the hope that I may obliterate the truth. I don't know if I am fooling anybody. False is attractive to me, not surprisingly, and it turns out to be one of the most mindful things I do. But then I am mad.
Susan, I remember when you wrote the details of that event. Horrifying... but most especially the sense of betrayal at having been forgotten by the people who should have been most concerned about your safety.
Secret Agent, I agree precisely. It's the mindlessness of it, and it's also the incongruity of forty year old man with teenage-sounding captions... "I strive to be relentlessly myself", etcetera. It seems too much like the things my students (teenage girls, specifically) post on the Facebook pages so their friends will respond with lots of love and support. Nothing wrong with it, really; just seems odd coming from an adult man.
Pixie, there's nothing mad in wanting to present yourself as in control, healthy and well. We all want to be perceived that way. And you possess an honesty about it that T does not. Though I empathize with him, truly, I think he is attempting to fool himself, not others. And I do not think you are anything like him. (Which is a good thing!)
That has always been a secret fear of mine, returning home and seeing it destroyed -- because of something stupid I did or didn't do. Exploding houses is extra horrific.
My grandson is autistic and he is always delighted to join in horseback riding with other kids. Every three months autistic kids are invited to participate. The kids seem to come more alive and do a lot of grinning and laughing when riding. It is a good thing.
Not being a Facebook participant, I have always suspected that the whole venture is an exercise in self affirmation -- with all of the "Likes" and stuff. Uncomfortable with it.
Exploding houses are terrifying. I'd never considered such a thing possible in real life, only on the news, until that happened.
I have a lot of faith in the therapeutic riding program that runs at my niece's stable. Those kids too look like they are having the time of their lives.
Facebook... it's such a strange world. I think about leaving it quite often, but most of my generation seems to have bought in which makes it difficult to bow out if one wants to remain in touch. I don't know. At present I am a member, but a non-participant for the most part.
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