Yes, Independence Day is upon us again and, as usual, I am at work. I normally have to work 3-4 holidays and this happens to be one of them. I would much rather work this day shift, though, so I can watch fireworks tonight. In the past, I have had to work the night shift and try to watch the downtown fireworks from my office window….not much fun.
Either way, it has been a very hot weekend, with very little relief in sight. I stayed until 8 pm last Friday evening because we were short-handed. It wasn’t real busy, but just busy enough to keep me from getting bored. When I got home, I got on the computer for a while and then headed to bed. On Saturday, I did my best to stay where it was cool. We had choir rehearsal at the church from 9 am – 11 am, so I was able to stay cool for a couple of hours. Afterwards, I had no plans, so I headed home. On my way home, I heard a call over my work two-way radio about a possible water main break. Since it wasn’t that far from my house, I responded.
When I arrived, water was gushing out of a hole in the yard. I stood by and spoke with the resident while the water rep shut down the main. It was the third main break on that street in a week. Just like I told the resident…..I can’t explain why mains break on the same street three or four different times in one week. In this particular area, the mains are only around 10 years old, so I don’t know why the main keeps breaking on the same street. I do know that the heat has caused more people to use more water, so the pressure fluctuation also has something to do with the mains breaking. Anyway, I stayed around until the rep got the water shut down and then headed home. I stayed inside all afternoon, enjoyed the coolness of the air, listened to OCFD on my laptop….and chilled.
At around 4 pm., Karla and I went to Applebees Restaurant in Moore……you see, it was our 30 year wedding anniversary, so we wanted to go celebrate and have a nice early evening quiet meal. Since her legs have been bothering her and she hasn’t felt well lately, we did not plan any kind of trip or outing. She had an accident several days ago and twisted her foot, so she is having to keep her foot elevated as much as possible. Plus, the fact that it was over 100 degrees outside kept us from getting out and doing something. Even the dogs stayed in all afternoon and evening.
Later that evening, I decided to go ahead and mow my front yard. It was hot and humid, with no breeze. In other words, it was miserable! I mowed and then went inside to watch COPS while I cooled off. After watching TV for thirty minutes, I decided to go ahead and mow the back yard. Mowing a lawn when it is over 100 degrees is not a good idea. I even drank a ton of water and I was still overheated. At least it is done for another week and won’t have to worry about mowing again until this coming weekend.
Yesterday was a very busy day. We had our 4th of July celebration service at church, followed by a cook-out after the service. We had hot dogs, hamburgers and great desserts. We also had a moon bounce for the children, horseshoes for the adults and volleyball for the youth. Unfortunately, since it was so hot outside, very few people participated in the activities. Even I tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. By around 1:30 pm, most everyone had left, so I decided it was time to go home myself…kind of. My wife had promised a lady from church that I would come over and weed eat her yard that afternoon. I kind of dreaded it because I knew it would be hot.
My wife had called me after I left the church and asked me to go by the house and get her cell phone, before I went weed eating. On the way to the house, I had my REACT two-way radio on and received a call from one of our members regarding a house fire in Moore. So, I went on by my house, got Karla’s cell phone and headed towards Moore. By the time I got there, the fire was almost out. Three houses had caught on fire from an unknown cause. Some speculate it was fireworks and some speculate it was from grilling. I stayed there for about 30 minutes and then decided to leave. It was so hot just standing outside and there was nothing to do but watch.
I headed to south OKC to get my weed eating out of the way. It was really bad….it took me over an hour to weed eat the front and the back yard. I also went through an entire jug of water because it was so hot. I finished around 4:30 pm, so I headed home to cool off. At around 5:45, Karla and I headed over to her uncle’s house for a cook-out. We had hot dogs, hamburgers….and cobbler. After I ate, I headed over to the church. We had planned an outing for the youth, which included fried chicken and fireworks. After eating, we headed over to Valley Brook to set off fireworks. Since there is a burn ban in Oklahoma County, there are very few places to set off fireworks. Since Valley Brook is unincorporated, they pretty much have their own rules. Because of that, they set aside an area in their city where people could come and shoot off fireworks legally.
So, we went to Valley Brook, made a stop at the fireworks stand so the students could buy fireworks and then headed to the designated area to shoot them off. We were there until around 10 pm and the students had a blast! I did not buy any fireworks because I did not have the money….but it didn’t matter. I got to stand back and watch the students shooting them off. As a matter of fact, I did not shoot any fireworks off. I was still very tired and not in any shape to have to move around fast. When you shoot off fireworks, you have to be quick. Since I did not feel quick last night, I chose to be a spectator.
Today is the actual day to celebrate. This afternoon, Karla and I are going to a cook-out (along with several other REACT team members) to one of our members’ homes in Spencer. This is another small town that is allowing fireworks, so several of our REACT team members will be bringing fireworks. I am looking forward to a fun-filled evening.
http://www.centralokreact.org/
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