Forest of the Plains

This afternoon we got a phone call from our realtor. She had just heard from a coworker who is also a volunteer EMT that serves the area around our new farm. The message: Our barns are burnt to the ground, and they're not sure about the house. (Aside from the horrible news, I do think it's funny that the EMT called our realtor to get ahold of us!)

We got to the farm as fast as we could. About 15 vehicles, all owned by volunteer first responders, were parked in the field. Two relatives were already there, watching the fire. Two barns and one chicken house were completely burned, except for their tin roofs. The grass all around the house had burned, but the house and the granary (where we're storing a lot of sentimental things) weren't touched.

News spreads fast in a small town, so family and neighbors stopped in to see if they could help. Our contractor for the house construction even put on some gloves to help pull the pieces of tin roof out of the flames. Another EMT made a point of telling me how hot it was and very closely monitored my fluid intake. And, of course, about half of the fire fighters are either relatives or attend our church.

The fire chief has several theories about how the fire started, and will definitely rule the fire as accidental.

We're very grateful to the volunteer fire fighters who spent hours in the 100F heat with the hot sun beating down on them.

We're also grateful to whoever called in the fire. None of the first responders recognized their name.

John has taken some pictures. Check out his site for updates.

It's a good thing we moved away from Indiana. It looks like there are all kinds of security issues there, right down to home grown explosives (read to the end of the article). Thanks to Jerry for pointing out this important link!

Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch is marketed as a children's book, and is apparently loved by people of all ages. The first time I read it (at least 10 years ago), I had trouble finishing it. And the more I read the worse it was. Occasionally I am reminded of this book, and each time I start shuttering. This is a very freaky book that discourages the normal boundaries that should be observed between parents and children.

The premise of the book is good. The song that the mother sings is nice: "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be." I just have trouble with the execution. Here's one of the scariest excerpts that sounds like something from a horror movie:

"But sometimes on dark nights the mother got into her car and drove across town. If all the lights in her son's house were out, she opened his bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up over the side of his bed. If that great big man was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang." (You can find the full text here.)

AAGH! I can just hear the horror music in the background! There is never a reason for a mother to enter her adult son's home in the middle of the night through the window, then start rocking him. Has the author never heard of boundaries?!? Children do need to know that they are loved, but they also need to know that their mother won't crawl in their window at night when they're 30 years old. Creepy!