Cogitate

July 31, 2009

Some random thoughts to ponder while evacuating. . .

• Do vacation and evacuation have the same root word? If so, can you expect to have equal fun participating in either?
• Was Teddy a chauffeur or race car driver in a previous life? That would explain her strong insistence on taking over the steering every time she gets in the car.
• Do we really need to evacuate Kitty Muffin, since every day she single-handedly produces amounts of ammonia in her litter box equivalent to what we drove through yesterday afternoon. By the way, I understand why cat leashes are not a preferred option.
  
• Is dog barking or cat mewling more melodious?
• If asked, I'd categorize a mini van as a compact car if it contained two adults, Teddy, Uma, Willie, and Kitty Muffin.
  
• Should Uma win the Best Behaved contest. . .for the first time ever?
• Is it a coincidence that I'm reading The Zookeeper's Wife? At least I know the importance of harmony and humor when mixing anxious people and animals in strange settings.
  
• Why do people drive worse (some times much worse), instead of better, when evacuating? This sounds like a better syndrome to investigate than having restless legs (with apologies to anyone with that condition).
• It least we hadn't unpacked and stored all the suitcases from vacation yet. That made it a little easier to leave.
• Does it seem strange that the kind and gentle policeman denying us access to Leonard Road at 9:30 last night after we returned from exile could smell nothing and planned to stand at the intersection of 2818 and Leonard with no protection for the rest of the night, but he couldn't let us drive home and sleep in our home with a recirculating air system and mostly fixed pane windows? Those Jedi Mind Trick beers I had at the Cambridge Brewing Co. worked well. "These aren't the evacuees you are looking for. Go about your business. Move along."
  
• Have I ever been gladder of a south wind, given that I live south of the chemical plant that exploded and burned? If you squint (or click on the image to enlarge it) you can see Leisure Lake, right by the bend in the road on the southeast edge of the evacuation area. This map also works if you are trying to find my house for the lanyard workshop.
  

• There' no better sleep than in your own bed.

Seriously, we made it home from vacation on Wednesday with some close connections and some bumpy air miles (I'll update The Repore when I get a chance). I'm a bit behind on laundry because of the unscheduled drive we made to Magnolia when we evacuated after the ammonia nitrate cloud threatened the area on Thursday.

The lanyard workshop schedule for 3:00 this afternoon is still on.