Did It Have To Back Up?
If you missed reading yesterday’s blog then I suggest you go back and read that one first and then continue on to today’s blog. If you’re like me and don’t have time then the gist is I felt like I got ran over by a truck after a long weekend of travel. Now after last night I feel like that same truck backed up and drove over me again.
It’s never easy to come home after being away no matter how short of a trip you took. The vehicle needs to be unloaded, bags need to be unpacked and there seems to be extra laundry to wash. Then there are the telephone messages to return, e-mails to catch up on and a pile of other items that need to be addressed.
Yesterday was no different in the sense that it had all of the above plus some. Mike had two meetings in town to attend, Josh had a sleepover planned and I also had two meetings to go to. Since my meetings were later than Mike’s I thought I would go for a run before I went to my 6pm meeting.
Thinking I haven’t gotten any older(re- yesterday’s blog) I had Mike drop me off by Hedstrom’s so I could run down Co. Rd 60, Co. Rd 58 and then Hwy. 61 back to Grand Marais. I’ll blame it on not being a good judge of distance not of the shape I’m in. Actually I felt fine after the 7 or 8 or so miles and 105 minutes of running, it was the meetings that killed me.
A pre-meeting of the Community Center Board I’m on from 6-7pm and then a special meeting of the 1% Sales Tax Meeting from 7-10pm. Of course there wasn’t time for dinner or any type of food in between. The dining options in Grand Marais are quite limited after 10pm and I had more than 1 person tell me to go to the deli in the Holiday gas station.
The deli didn’t appeal to me as much as conversation and a fresh from the garden salad at a friend’s house. After my loyal and loving friend picked lettuce in the dark, rinsed it clean and cut up some fixings to go along with it we finally sat down for a bite to eat.
Seconds later Mike’s cell phone rang with a call from Voyageur. A paper plate was found for my dinner, a bag of garden goods packed for future eating and we were on our way back up the Gunflint Trail.
Apparently a fire was burning at our neighbors two doors down to the North. They had lost their first cabin during the Ham Lake Fire in 2007 and this house was 99% complete. Our incredible crew turned on sprinkler systems of surrounding properties and visited nearby cabins to let the folks know what was happening. By the time the Fire Department pulled in with trucks and water there wasn’t much to do but contain the fire from spreading to nearby properties. The roof had caved in and the building was a complete loss.
Abby was spending the night at her Grandma’s house across the river from the fire. They awoke to a bright orange glow coming through the bedroom window. Knowing the moon wasn’t out and it couldn’t be morning they got out of bed to check it out. They saw the cabin fully engulfed in flames lighting up the entire sky. Abby assured Grandma she wasn’t scared but she knew Josh would be so she was happy he wasn’t home to see it.
Even with our fire gear on there wasn’t much Mike or I could do. As Fire Chief Mike made sure there were two firefighters there to watch it during the night. We got back to Voyageur after 2am and in bed by 3am to be up by 6am this morning.
This is why I am wondering if the truck that ran me over during the weekend had to back up over me yesterday…