Today was definitely more interesting than I was expecting.  It started out just fine.  I got Maggie ready and we went out to the library.  We got home, had lunch and I tried to get her to nap.   I was so tired, thinking I would just lay down and nap if she ever fell asleep.  After sitting in her room with her for an hour and a half, I left her room to let her figure it out.  She’s exhausted, but she didn’t fall asleep, so neither did I.

As it turns out, this was pretty lucky.  I went downstairs and was on the phone with State Farm about our insurance policies when I look out the patio door and our entire backyard is on fire!  Yikes…Kind of one of those heart leaping out of your body moments.  I went to the garage to tell John and his friend who reply to me, what do you mean the yard is one fire…pretty self explanatory comment I thought.  They open the garage door and say, oh my gosh, the yard is on fire!  News flash…I was serious.  Our entire back yard was up in flames.  So scary.  I ran and got Maggie because I wasn’t sure how fast it would spread or when the fire department would get here.  Then I made a call to let the neighbors know their yard was also on fire.  The 22 minutes it took for the fire department were the longest 22 minutes of my life!

John and his friend managed to get most of the fire put out by the time the fire department got here, but by then they were over trying to stop the neighbors yard from burning into the treeline.  I was quite terrified watching with Maggie from the back patio as the fire got closer and closer to our house.  When all was said and done, the fire ended up about 11 feet from our house.  Too close for comfort!

I am so very grateful that nobody was hurt and all we lost was our grass.  John has a very wounded ego because of how the fire started, but that will heal.  He had taken the ashes from our fireplace and put them in the fire pit like he does every time he empties the ashes.  They didn’t seem hot, but obviously there was enough there to start the fire.

This brought back some bad memories for me.  When I was just a kid, 8 or 10, our house burned down.  I have vague memories of having nothing left.  Years later, the hole where the house was is still just a hole.  Way too much excitement for me for today!  Now to hope I sleep and don’t dream about fire tonight!