THE GAS LEAK INCIDENT
The construction workers were careless. Police cars blocked off one of the entrances to the complex as a precaution while a fire truck parked behind my driveway to block off the other entrance to the affected area. I was trapped in the middle.
As I prepared to leave this morning, a fireman walked up to my minivan and informed me of the situation. Two buildings down, by the construction site, a worker in a backhoe drove into a gas line. The fireman backed his fire truck to let me out of the barricade and let me know it would take a couple of hours to clear the situation. I took the opportunity to make an unplanned trip to Central Market for bread, cheese, and veggies.
Upon my return two and a half hours later, the fire truck and police cars were gone but a few of the neighbours were outside. One of them, whose townhouse was next to the construction site, let me know we were not allowed to go into our homes. An inspector was going around measuring the gas concentrations in the homes in the immediate area.
Uncomfortable with the thought of a stranger entering my home, I went inside, closed the door behind me, and waited. I hoped there was no need for the inspector to make a stop at my place and kept peeking through the blinds to see if anything was happening. When I noticed the neighbour across the street going into his home, I was certain the crisis was over.
After the children returned home from school, they sat with me to do homework before getting to play. Sage is forever mesmerised by puzzles - the 3D globe puzzle from Ravensburger in particular. He put it together and took it apart, only to put it back together again.
Cinnamon, on the other hand, preferred to read "Green Eggs and Ham" again, claiming it was an easy Dr. Seuss book. Since we do not have a television, we come up with other forms of entertainment. The best, which also happen to be my favourites, are puzzle building and reading.
Tonight's two bedtime stories were chapter 3 of Giada's Naples book and a new book that arrived yesterday afternoon. This new book, "What Do You Do With an Idea?", is a great lesson for both children and adults. The progression of watercolour illustrations from monocolour to fully coloured was stunning. My favourite quote was the last page:
"And then, I realized what you do with an idea...
You change the world."
