The Harrowing/Heartwarming Parent Moment of the Week
This week was crazy busy.
The first official week of Camas run camps started with Jr. A. Sweet Boy#1 was a camper in The Thing’s cabin and I was the mom of his 2 rowdy younger brothers and the official caregiver of our cook’s full-spirited grandson. The campers left at 2:00 on the 4th and Scruff and the counselors finished up with a meeting and cleaning the camp. We were hoping to be done by 5:00 but it was 6:00 before the last counselor rolled out of the parking lot and we set off for a friend’s 4th of July BBQ.
We were a bit late, but I got a chance to eat while some bachelor friends started lighting off fireworks for the kiddos. I finished up my burger and grilled goat (yep…that would be Samantha if anyone is curious) just in time to walk out front and watch one of those whirly flower fireworks settle in the dry grass. A child brought my attention to the tiny blaze. After a bit of shouting I got the guys to notice and everyone rushed to grab a hose. It took only a few seconds but by then the neighbors juniper tree was engulfed and we were tossing the children over the fence to take refuge on the sidewalk.
Police cars, a fire truck, we saw it all. In the end, eight of the neighbor’s juniper trees were burned to a crisp. It was so so fast. I’ve heard people say fire is quick. But until you see it laughing in the face of 2 garden hoses and roaring its way to the sky, you can’t really imagine.
Once the fire had settled to a soggy smoking haze, Sweet Boy#1 jumped back over the fence and asked if everyone was ready to light off the rest of the fireworks. While he was undaunted, everyone else was a bit shaken and just feeling thankful that no one lost their house. Lots of excitement this week, perhaps a bit much actually.
