Binoculars

I had a three-day birthday celebration, which was pretty good, considering I woke up with dread on the morning of the actual birth day. I am 78, but I have pretty much been 78 all year long, since I don't retain odd numbers. 

Anyway, Tom gave me a TV set for the kitchen. I am all about having a TV in every room of the house, but I didn't expect this. So there you go, a good surprise. Then Ed and Dede sent me a fine pair of binoculars for watching airplanes take off at the airport. I seem to be dazzled by airplanes. Other people watch birds. I watch airplanes. No surprise there. Some like to hike in nature; I like elevators.

Sitting on the balcony this evening, I turned to look east and saw smoke north of the "U" on the mountains. With the binoculars I saw fire! A grass fire making its way down the hill towards multi-million dollars homes. Thrilling! Absolutely thrilling. 

One plane dropped water or wild flower seeds on it. The fire blazed larger. Then a helicopter landed on one of the foothills. A few minutes later, I saw a large spray of water from somewhere. I'm sorry, I dropped the ball on the sequence of events.

Where did the spray come from? The helicopter wasn't where it landed. I don't know. Pretty soon I'll be telling jokes and forgetting the punchline.

There was something nasty in me that wanted to see half the city go up in flames.

Obviously, I've been watching way too many World War II films.