A Dance In The Frying Pan

The post title is two-fold regarding my day yesterday. It was quite a full evening so I will try to squish it all into one post.

First- Both Josh and Caleb went to the dance last night... Caleb went willingly. I had to make Josh go... Josh tends to be a social introvert so I thought it would be good to make him go, having Caleb there as kind of a life preserver for him. Josh called me after about an hour and a half to come pick him up. Caleb, on the other hand, danced until the last song was played.

Shortly before 10pm I loaded up Josh and the girls to go pick up Caleb... At this time of night I would have preferred the girls be asleep in their beds but Chuck wasn't home and I was dropping the boys off at their grandparents so I had no choice but to take the them... The parking lot was full of parents waiting to pick up their kids. I sent Josh in to get Caleb. A few minutes later Josh returned smiling, "Caleb is dancing with Emily"... I figured as much- the last dance is usually a slow one... "Alright. Just make sure he knows where I'm parked"... I so wanted to go take a peek. Figuring the girls would want to get out if I did, I resisted the urge to spy...

The dance was finally done and Caleb came out to the van, totally jazzed from his big night. "I wish it was 7 o'clock all over again" He stated as he climbed in the back.

I laughed, remembering myself how I hated the 'night' to end when I was his age. "So? Did you ask her to dance?" Knowing full well that he just got done dancing with her.

Out of breath and full of excitement, "Yesssss. And I danced with...." He rattled off about 6 or 7 girls that he slow danced with and then told a few quick stories about some break dancing with one of his friends.

"If you danced with all those girls what made dancing with Emily so special?" I asked... I figured he wouldn't have wanted to dance with any other girls...

"Yeah but I danced with Emily 'THREE' times" he threw his hand forward from the back of the van with three fingers extended. "I only danced with the other girls once."

"And did you get a good night kiss?" I didn't want to know the answer to this question- but I really did.... know what I mean...

Caleb replied all shy and pitchy, "NO!" ...ok, good! At least we aren't to that point yet...

Now the second reason for the post title. Chuck wasn't home last night because he was at a fire. He called me about 4 o'clock that afternoon telling me they got toned out for mutual aid for a structure fire. I had taken the boys to get their eyes checked... Josh is 20/20 and Caleb is 20/15... so Chuck dropped the girls off at one of our friends until I got back.

After I picked up the girls we drove by the fire house to see if the trucks were back yet- Nope. I took the boys home so they could shower and get ready for the dance. 7 o'clock rolled around and Chuck still wasn't home. The girls and I took the boys to the dance and swung by the fire department again to check on the status of the fire. One of the cadets was there and he started in about the details of the fire.

The building was an older structure that had been converted into apartments and as far as he knew, it was still burning... it's been about 3 hours now and still burning- Some fire.... He started naming off all the fire departments that were there... about 6 or 7 different agencies... When he named the city I work for, I flipped. "Seriously? Those guys have been bugging me for weeks to tone them out for a fire. I bet they were psyched." ...I know it sounds morbid- but its the job that we do...

I haven't been able to see Chuck at a fire in a long time and I anxiously wanted to go, especially knowing the my-city department was there... see, my-city department is the only one in the county with a ladder truck- and I don't think they have ever had the chance to use it in an actual fire yet... I didn't want to miss seeing it in action... I got back in the van and asked the girls if they wanted to go see Daddy put out a fire. They both cheered with excitement, "Yeah!" I thought about running home to get my camera, but I didn't. Once I got to the fire, I wished I had taken the time to get it.

To shorten up this story and get to the point of my post title- The girls and I found Chuck right next to the ladder truck... he never passes up an opportunity to climb around on that truck... He was taking a break so we hung around for a bit. I asked the girls several times if they were ready to leave, but they emphatically replied, "No!"

The ladder truck was being run from down on the ground but now they needed someone to go up in the bucket. Chuck volunteered... of course... We watched Chuck get all his gear back on and climb up the ladder. Gracie was observant of all the commotion and asked some very insightful questions. Suzie was quiet but she was taking it all in.

I watched Chuck ascend the ladder and climb into the bucket. Once in position, they guys on the ground began to extend the ladder and maneuver the bucket through some wires running parallel to the building. I held my breath as I watched them position the bucket over top of the burning roof. The fire broke through an exterior wall and began to lick at the roof top- just below Chuck.

I looked up at my-city fire chief to see if he was looking at me to see if I was watching what was going on. I wanted to shout at him jokingly, "You better not drop him" But there was so much noise he would have never heard me. I looked back at the bucket extended over the burning roof. I had to chuckle- the image put me in the mind of cooking something in a frying pan over a gas stove. Like frying up some chickens... the bucket has nozzles on the bottom and was spraying water on the fire so I knew Chuck was ok... It was just a funny (ha) way to look at the situation...

I took some pictures with my cell phone- but man, I could've had some great shots if I had my actual camera with me. Let me try and crop one up-

The pole is in the way, but the flames are just beginning to break out. That is Chuck up there in the bucket. The girls and I left right after I took this picture. They didn't want to go but it was getting late and I needed to be home in time to pick up the boys.