Fire!

Sorry, did I scare you? Hey, at least I didn't yell it in a crowded movie theater.

We got our Fire Training today, and to be perfectly honest, if anything I'm more terrified of fire than I was yesterday. Was that the point, firefighters? To make me feel as if no amount of preparation or supplies or strategy will ever make me ready to face a fire? If so, then you sirs succeeded. I was called on to demonstrate the use of the fire tents, which are essentially human-sized flame retardant shower caps that--in the worst case scenario--you climb into, flop down on the ground in, and then pray to a god you might not believe in while flames burn over and around you. I could barely hear anyone around me when I was inside, face pressed up against the grass, hoping that I hadn't left any gaps. It was pretend, and it was the stuff of nightmare.  Practicing with the hoses was pretty fun, although the first one we connected up and turned on sprang a number of leaks from where the mice had had a gnaw. Comforting.