ADHD Serves a Purpose

Since I am apparently incapable of writing anything of my own (sorry, I’m a very busy mom these days), take a minute to pop over to Stephanie’s blog Throwing Marshmallows for a great post about Michael Phelps, ADHD, and spelling.

August 16, 2008 | Filed Under Homeschool Issues, Learning | 1 Comment 

Fire

Little Lake Santa Fe.  We go there every year, sometimes twice a year.  This year, there was some excitement.  We watched smoke rise from the trees for about 20 minutes before something struck us as odd.  Initially, we assumed it was a brush fire.  People burn stuff on their property all the time and nobody takes notice.  But the smoke just didn’t seem to let up.

Picture one, 1:36 p.m. when we decided something was not right:

Fire 1

We kept on tubing and having fun, looking over to see if there were any changes.  By this time, people were starting to drive their boats over to watch.  Suddenly, we notice a huge change in the smoke.

Picture 2, 1:41 p.m.:

Fire 2

The smoke had become very black.  We assumed they had a brush fire gone wrong, and headed over on the boat to take a look.

This is what we saw.

Pictures 3 and 4, 1:48 p.m.:

Fire 3

Fire 4

About the time we saw the very black smoke, we also started to hear fire engines.  The smoke had been showing in the sky for over 20 minutes.  At home, there is no way anyone would have waited to call the fire department.  In this area, however, smoke is a normal thing.  The first thing you assume is someone is burning their brush.  The other weird thing was that we drove the boat past there once, before the flames showed, and people seemed to be outside looking around the house as if something weren’t right.  But it was a solid 20 minutes before the sirens could be heard.

The Gainesville Sun reported the fire the following day, but they didn’t have much more information than we had:

Cause of house fire on Little Lake Santa Fe Unknown

Ooooh big excitement for a little town.  I’m feeling really bad for the people who own the house.

August 6, 2008 | Filed Under Trips and Travel | 4 Comments