Everybody is Okay........

Well, Peas..........it's been a nightmare of a May so far. Late Wednesday afternoon I was sitting at the dining room table working on my laptop, when Charlie jumped to his feet and started acting weird. The cats shot off down the hallway and as I looked out the sunroom windows, all I could see was thick smoke. As my brain was trying to wrap itself around this sight, the phone rang. It was Marina next door asking me if my house was on fire. I jumped to my feet, ran to the back door and said, "No, but the next door neighbor's is!"
Twenty long and frantic minutes later the first fire truck arrived as I watched the house next door become fully engulfed and my siding start to melt as the flames leaped towards our home. They put a hose on the burning remains next door and concentrated the other trucks on hosing down our house.
Now let me fill in the blanks of what was transpiring in that first half hour. Hubby had been up at Geisinger getting a cat scan and then had headed west to a meeting. At 4:10PM the first 911 alarm was called in. I ran next door to see if anyone was home. The neighbor's elderly and quite ill mother lives downstairs. The three grandkids almost always get off the bus at 3:30. The wife's car was parked next to the house. Through the smoke I could see that the security bar was on the back door. As I then ran around to the front, a man across the street was screaming to me, "Is there anyone in the house?" I told him about the grandmother, grandkids and mother. However, the flames were shooting out of every door and window. It spread so GD fast. The man, soon to be a Good Samaritan, then shouted to me that I needed to move my car and vacate the house. Not being able to drive a stick, I threw him the keys to the wagon and the sports car. He moved them to safety, out of harms way. Then I leashed Charlie and left him with Marina next door. We could not find the cats. There was no time to look for them. I had to leave.
Then the frantic call to hubby to tell him to come home immediately.
Long story short, no one was at home next door, the cats were fine, we only have fire damage to one side of our home, but soot throughout the inside. It could have been so much worse.
Now I know when some one says they 'escaped with the clothes on their back', how true that can be.
We have restoration people working the last two days, and they will be back again next week to do the whole house inside and out. What a nightmare. But I have learned three valuable lessons. 1. Don't stop to save keepsakes. Grab your loved ones, your pets if you can, get them into a car and moved to a safe distance. 2. As a precaution, all photos, family keepsakes, jewelry, etc., should be kept in a fireproof box. Even if it is a pain-in-the-ass to get them out now and then. 3. And as harsh as it may sound, (my fireman grandson scolded me on this point) don't stay in a burning home trying to find pets that have gone into hiding.
A month ago we had another house fire that did not end as well. The husband foolishly tried to extinguish the flames, was immediately overcome and died in the fire.
So to all my Peas, we are okay, slightly barbecued, but much wiser to how quickly our world can be turned upside down.
Next you hear from me, I will talk about much more pleasant things. My garden, Charlie's summer hair-do, recent projects and the general goofiness that is a part of daily life at the Lake House Zoo.
Big hug and smootchies to all the Peas.
Love,
SF