I’m really starting to question whether or not Botox is even worth it after the day I had today.  Denis and I were outside, he was uncharacteristically cleaning the gutters, and I was cleaning the windows.  We heard sirens, then saw a fire truck race past us down Hall Road towards the seniors’ home at the end.

As a huge fire had broken out in West Kelowna yesterday, I felt bad that emergency personnel were being taken away from that for what I assumed must be another heart attack at the home.  A few seconds later a second fire truck raced by, followed by two fire department pick-ups.  I said to Denis, “I guess we’d better pack.”

Sure enough, within about ten minutes a plane carrying fire retardant was circling over our house and appeared to be heading for Mission Creek Park.  The bird dog, which is the guide plane, came in and pinpointed the area for the bomber.  He made a few runs, some of them making the entire house vibrate.  In any case, I was vibrating, feeling sick and trying to figure out what to save.

The phone rang, and it was Denis’ employer, telling him among other things that Hall Road was on evacuation alert.  Because he works for the Department of Transport he was being called out to help with the highway closure in West Kelowna.  When he hung up I screamed, “On evacuation alert? Again?”

As you may know, we were evacuated in 2003 for the Okanagan Mountain Park fire.  So when I thought of that happening all over again I just felt defeated.  Nonetheless I dutifully picked up some mementos, photo albums and Christmas decorations and started to photograph every corner of the house.

When the employer calls, Denis jumps, so he had gone off for his silly job.  I was at home, on evacuation alert, with Frick and Frack.  As I was packing the stuff into my car, Luke told me nothing was going to happen.  I pointed out that if the house burned and people asked why I hadn’t packed and I said because my son told me not to, I would be classified as insane.

To help me, Luke and Nicky decided to walk down Hall Road to see what was happening.  Not long afterwards I saw the fire trucks leave, and then the kids returned and said the fire was totally contained.  Later in the day when I acting nervous because of all the smoke, Nicky asked if I was “trippin’ out.”

I find that being near the children during a crisis helps bring everything into perspective.  I compulsively cleaned the windows of the entire house to take my mind off imminent disaster, and they went to the creek to cool off.  When they came home we found that we were all in far better spirits.  I was able to stop frowning, and so mercifully will be able to justify future Botox treatments.