Danger Comes in All Forms

Quite often when we ride...and we usually ride as little as possible in town, and ride the shoulder on the highway....we discuss "danger."  Yesterday we talked about being alert and cautious and aware of what's happening all around us.  We discussed heat and lack of water and angry drivers....and on and on.  I'd even made the comment that you can't just wrap yourself in pillows and stay at home.  An airplane could fall on your house...or a gas explosion (we had those in 2000)...or any number of other disasters.

Case in point:  A very close friend of mine moved about a year ago into a senior citizen high-rise.  She called this morning to tell me about their "excitement last night."  It seems about 10 pm they were told they needed to evacuate the building.  Some 80 residents did just that.  She said LOTS of firemen and police were outside and the area was already taped off with crime scene streamers.  It seems a man was found dead in an apartment on the first floor.  (No one as yet seems to know what the story is on that.  He was older however.)  At any rate, upon entering his apartment to check on his welfare and finding him expired, a stash of explosives were also found.  News reports say "grenades and pipe bombs."  My friend tells me he was a military person in his younger days and everyone thinks maybe these items were memoribilia from World War II.

At any rate, near 11 pm the residents were told they could return to their apartments...all except for the south wing of the first floor and apartments 209 and 211.  My friend Pat lives in 209!   She was finally allowed to return to her place about midnight.  She said she's been much more concerned today than she was last night when she didn't know what was going on.

So...I repeat...get out and do something fun.  You only live once and you might as well do it while you can.  Be aware, be careful, but bottom line:  when your time's up, your time's up.