Our life

Saturday had yet to surprise me. DD’s been sick (ear infection, congestion, sniffles), and now C was sick too (congestion, sniffles).  So I spent a good part of the afternoon chasing C around, in the hopes of keeping her down so she could get better. 

It must’ve been around 430 when I got to the point of trusting she’d stay down long enough for me to either fire up the snow blower, or get to the basement and do some sawing for another project. I decided sawing was in order.  I went out to the garage to get some supplies, and heard the sirens.  Now back in Chicago, sirens were no big deal.  But I’ve learned that’s the opposite here.  My family is prone to injury lately.  So when I hear sirens, I typically wait for the call to find out who’s going in, and what for. 

The call came at 443pm from Oz.  I listened from downstairs to catch C’s reaction (if she panics, go into flight mode).  I hear no panic, so I keep setting things up.  Then she yells down for me to come up.  Uh oh. 

My first words are “who’s going in?”. Thankfully, she just wants me to watch dd while she goes with her mom to check out the fire at the local “Independent Living Center”, Park Manor. Oz calls back a few minutes later.  Change of plans.

What we thought would be a minor fire has turned into 3 alarms. Folks are standing outside (many elderly), in the snow watching their home burn. We need to transport them to City Hall, 1/2 mile away.  I hop in my car and head to Oz’s mom’s house to grab the van.  C bundles dd up, and hops in the truck.  I make it there about the same time C does.  She had the foresight to grab every blanket in the house. 

Firetrucks, Ambulances and Police cars are everywhere.  Flames are dancing out of the roof.  Residents stand on the street, watching in shock.  I grab a few blankets and wrap up a few folks (well, first I smile and do the obligatory "shove” of the blanket, like saying “here, I’m harmless”).  We help get people into various vans and SUVs that have all come together to help.  At some point during all of this, dd is dropped off at Great Aunt MT’s house.

But the time I make it back up to City Hall, everyone is huddled in one of the meeting rooms, wrapped up in blankets and sipping coffee or drinking water.  C starts asking what we should do for food.  Do we call Food and Fuel (they’ve always been helpful in the past)?  Do we call Fred’s?  We hear Red Cross is en route, but won’t be in for at least 45 minutes. As we’re working out the details, someone from Edel’s Meat Market pops in to ask what he should bring. Someone else figured that many of the elderly residents lost their medications in the fire, so S from Hermann Drug shows up to take orders

A call to Fred’s was made to order up some chicken.  By 630, C and I have picked up the chicken, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy.  There’s also a request from CP to bring the firefighters some water, coffee and pop.  So after dropping the chicken off, we head up to deliver.  By now, the fire is somewhat under control. About 2/3’s of the east wing’s roof is gone.

After the delivery, we head back up to City Hall to help more. I head up to Fred’s again with a list for RP, drop that off and make it back.  C and Oz decided that dd should be home.  So we hop in the truck and car, go pick dd up from MT’s, and come home.  After tucking her in, c heads back up to City Hall to lend support to Oz, who will be there all night, running the scene from behind the curtain.  As much as I want to be there instead of C, I understand that she will do far better in there than I.

With all the “me first” attitudes we see these days, its refreshing to know that we still have communities that help one another out.  It filled me with pride, to see how quickly this town pulled together to help those in need. Warmth, nourishment, shelter and support; all provided without ever asking. 

From what I understand:  as of 1015PM, all 43 residents have been accounted for, with no injuries.  2 Firefighers were injured, but nothing life threatening: a sprained ankle for one, and various scrapes and scratches for another when the roof caved in on him.

I tell you folks, I am damn proud of our little city here.

A very special thanks to:

• Mayor Mick McGuire for being right there, in the thick of it, from the first sirens. The news might show him inside City Hall, warm and cozy.  But we saw him on the curb, directing people, standing in the water. 
• Oz, for being there right after Mick, running the logistics of everything, without ever having socks on.
• Montgomery Area Fire Department, Emergency Services, and Police Department for doing all they do.
• New Prague, Kilkenny, and Le Center Fire Departments.
• All City Office employees for their support.
• Edel’s Meat Market and Fred’s IGA.

Most of all, I would like to thank the selfless volunteers of the City of Montgomery who were there to help in every way possible. Its folks like you who make our community a true Community.

News reports:

• Kare 11
• WCCO
• Fox 9
• KSTP
• Star Tribune

UPDATE 2009.02.25 - I heard from Oz this morning on the ride into work. Overnight, the west wing to the building caught fire. New Prague and Le Center were called out again, and the fire was under control by 0400. Thankfully, there were no reported injuries.

More info here: CityOfMontgomeryMN.com

Friday morning, as I was cleaning the kitchen, I heard an old familiar tune that brought me back to when I was a kid. 

I recall listening to this song, and asking my dad what she was talking about.  What the heck was a Tennessee Flat Top Box?  He explained that it was a guitar.  I couldn’t remember why he told me they called it that, but it just made sense. 

Growing up, I was surrounded by music.  Dad was in the band and mom loved to dance. I remember the cookouts with the “pickin and grinnin”.  Heading down home, grandpa always had a guitar nearby too, and would pick away when the mood struck.  Dad had a “hifi” with some awesome tunes that he loved, as well as mom’s tunes.  I very clearly remember rocking out to mom’s Tina Turner record (best recording of Proud Mary ever). Great times. 

As I grew older, my tastes changed from country classics like Alabama and Charlie Daniels (I shook his hand) and moved along to Motley Crue, GnR and Poison (C’s met Bret several times).  I wanted one of those black silky jackets so bad with {insert band logo here} on it.  Then Hip Hop came on the scene, and I was stuck in there.  Afrikka Bambaatta, Grandmaster Flash and Run D.M.C. gave way to rappers like LL Cool J, NWA and Geto Boys.  In high school, I went back to my roots of country with Garth and Brooks and Dunn, while “layin back” to Snoop Dogg, and snapping my fingers to Ole Blue Eyes.

And here I am now, in my father’s shoes some 30+ years later.  DD hasn’t asked us yet why Dino calls everyone “baby”, or why I like this “noise” called NIN, but I’m sure she will.  At some point, she’ll ask mommy what Bret means by “unskinny bop”, or why Reba always makes her smile. She’ll even ask Oz why they call Elton a bi…. um… Diva.  :)  And we’ll all have the answers for her.  She knows the big band music pretty well by now.  And if you sing Zip a Dee Doo Daa to her, she smile ear to ear…

I hope that, when she’s all grown up, perhaps with a baby of her own, she can  be in the kitchen one morning and hear a simple guitar riff that will send her back to the day she asked her daddy what a flattop box is.

p.s. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

p.p.s  We’ve moving all the pics over to flickr. 

My how time flies.  Why, just yesterday, it seemed like it was 戊子¹, but I digress.

As dd grows, we’re finding that she’s not the only one who’s learning here.  Now granted, she has learned far more than we have over these past few months, such as:

• How to eat solid foods like mashed potatoes, green beans, peas, apples, bananas, strawberries.
• How to drink from a sippy cup (still a work in progress).
• How to cross the living room floor via rolling and inching.  She’s almost ready to crawl.
• How to giggle on command.
• How to properly get and maintain mommy and daddy’s attention.
• How to hack into an unpatched XP machine.

But in the same, mommy and daddy are right there with her, learning that:

• There are truly not enough hours in the day.
• dd sleeps very well for her age, but that doesn’t mean we’re not deprived. (UPDATE – Teething pain began in full force)
• That bright green, blue, and red go really well with our decor of mostly earth tones. 
• The terminal velocity for a falling toy, how often it needs to be returned to the dropping hand, and how many foreign objects can get stuck on said toy in that short trip.
• What foods do what to her poop (still in progress).

I’m learning how to not be surprised by noises that come from within bags, boxes, and other carrying apparatuses.  It didn’t throw me off one bit Friday night when I grabbed the reusable Target bag and it sang “C is for Cookie” on the way out to the car. 

Mommy is learning how to make her own baby food.  Saturday night, we were up late boiling, peeling, mashing and packaging Bananas, Peas, Carrots and Peaches². She has also made 2 sets of just awesome cookies.  Her latest batch, the macadamia nut cookies, just get better with each cookie. In fact, the last one I had Saturday was the best yet. And to think, LOD could’ve had that one. 

Lastly, we’re both learning patience well beyond what we thought was possible. But I have to say the biggest thing we’ve learned is truly how cool it is to be a parent.  Its just awesome. 

1. thank you, wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Astrology#Table_of_the_sixty_year_calendar [↩]
2. Save those baby food containers (we used Gerber).  We filled at least 40 that night [↩]

I first wrote this on Christmas Eve. But then I lost access to the computer I wrote it on for a few days. So rather than post this back in time, I chose to post it tonight. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

---

When I was a kid, I recall the highlight of Christmas was always the party Aunt Marrianne and Uncle Gene would throw. The food, the laughter, the stories and advice. Good times. Then, as the night would progress, the adults would start to point out the window in the living room, and direct our attention out there. Like clockwork, Rudolph’s nose would blink out in the distance. Cousin after cousin would start to plop down on the floor near the back door, and watch in amazement as Santa came closer.

Then the commotion would be directed to the front door with a boisterous “Ho Ho Ho” and a jingle of the bells. “SANTA!”, we would all cry, “You’re here!”.

Surrounded by children, he would make his way to the living room and pull up a chair. Like good children do, we would all line up and wait our turn to sit on his lap, tell him what we want, and get something else in return with the promise that he’ll talk it over with mommy & daddy. I’m still waiting on a few things, but I’m sure mom & dad told him not to bring the race car, motorcycle or hippo.

Oh, the memories of Christmas. Mom & Dad put so much into Christmas to make it a magical and wonderful time growing up. As the years progressed, I would remember the times around Christmas. The Grinch, Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, Alvin and the Chipmunks…

I would make a list and mom would get it through her channels to Santa. Then, Christmas morning, I would awake to find all the things that Santa could fit on his sleigh. Oh happy days.

As the years progressed, Christmas started to lose its magic. I grew older¹. The wonder was replaced with “I’m too cool/old for Christmas”. The trees and presents get smaller, and the spirit shrunk.

I regained much of the spirit when c became a permanent part of my life. Some of the magic returned as well. And then we had dd. All of the sudden, the magic returned like a long lost boomerang. The spirit grew into a giant. I started to remember the things that you once found magical about Christmas. Its like Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Morning²: “It’s Christmas…”

With the technology we have today, Christmas has become enhanced. It has become a world of flash and pop. Crafty scripting, mixed with big budgets and world connectivity. For the adults, we have YouTube, where we can relive all of those wonderful movies and shows we grew up with. We can even watch some of them instantly, uninterrupted, if we’reNetFlix subscribers.

If you’re a hack like me, then you’ll find that Ed Skoudis’ Christmas Themed Pen-Testing Challenges are a hoot. And if you’re a geek and love history, be sure to check out Vint Cerf’s 1985 Request For Comments: RFC 968.

And for the kids, there’s the coolest thing ever: NORAD live tracking of Santa. An accidental tradition, started in 1955, continues to this day. You can even call 877-HI-SANTA to find out his location. How cool is that?

In our world of immersion and interactivity; full of holographic imagry, Dolby^(tm) 7.1 audio, and LED lighting; I will never forget the magic of sitting on the floor watching Rudolph’s red nose dancing through the air.

I hope that dd’s memories of Christmas will rival those of our own. I hope that each Christmas will be more magical and wonderful to her than the Christmas before. I promise her now, that we will do everything in our power to make that happen, just as our parents did for us.

And so we end this post with one of my favorite Christmas songs. Every time I hear this song, I tear up.

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you. May your Christmas be full of magic and wonder, and may you never be too “old” to enjoy it!

1. ”We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing“ [↩]
2. I can’t seem to find this on youtube as a clip [↩]