Sunday, February 7, 2021

"Stay Inside and Lock Your Doors"

 

The First Snow Pea

Today (Saturday) I was woken up by the noise of a police helicopter flying low over my neighborhood, round and round, blaring, "Stay inside and lock your doors"!  I don't know how long it had been flying around before the noise actually penetrated my sleep and woke me up, but, it continued to fly in circles around the houses immediately behind me, for at least 2 hours before it stopped, eventually!  I could hear police sirens and at least one fire engine rushed past my house!  I had my doors locked, but, I could see some of the neighbors in a house two doors down across the street from me standing in front of their doors and looking at the helicopter.  According to cousin P who called to ask if I heard the helicopter, there was a man who was wanted for assault and who was considered to be armed and dangerous.  I am not sure if they were able to apprehend him or if he got away.

I live in a mostly quiet and peaceful neighborhood, but, police activity in my neighborhood is not unheard of!  I once came home from work to find my street blocked off by police with guns drawn and a man spreadeagled on the road in front of my house!  Another time, I was taking the trash cans to the curb and there were police officers standing every few feet in front of my house and neighboring houses and swarming all over my yard!  I was told to get back into the house and later, I found out that the owner of a small restaurant three blocks up the road from me had been shot dead and they were searching for the gunman!  Ha, ha, life in the wild, wild West!   

Later, after the helicopter had left and M called to say he was on his way over (he was bringing me the rest of the fruit trees I asked him to buy for me), I went outside and unlocked the gate.  But, I locked the gate after he left!

In the afternoon, I cleaned one more shelf in the china cabinet and washed all the items I store/display on that shelf and put them back.  A set of 4 stem glasses were removed for donating.  Then, I paid the phone bill online (!), practiced the piano, and watered the back garden, including the new fruit trees (still in their containers; an Asian pear tree with four varieties grafted onto it for cross pollination purposes; a nectarine tree, a Fuyu persimmon tree, and three blueberry plants, as well as the plum tree).  

In the evening, I called my half-sister and chatted with her for a bit.  Then, I called friend R.

Today, I am grateful for:
- Locked doors and gates!
- M bringing me the fruit trees and bushes
- The first snow pea on the vine!
- Phone calls and emails with family and friends
- Water for the garden

Today's joyful activity was receiving the new fruit trees.

Have you ever been woken up by the sound of police helicopters flying over your neighborhood, telling you to lock your doors and stay inside?

18 comments:

  1. That must have been very worrying for you, Bless. Thankfully I've never experienced such a thing. A few years back I remember meeting someone while out walking, who was concerned about a helicopter flying over on a regular basis, but it was, in fact, the electricity company surveying the pylons and wires.
    It must be satisfying to be working your way through the china cabinet. X

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    1. To be quite honest, it was more an annoyance (it disturbed my sleep) than a worry, but, I was glad I have fairly high walls surrounding my back yard!

      Yes, I'm glad to be getting the china cabinet cleaned - it has been a long procrastinated task! :)

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  2. Wow. That's a pretty exciting situation to wake up to. What time was that?

    You will have such a nice fruit orchard in your own back yard, Bless.
    I think it's great that you are planting these trees and look forward to seeing them grow.

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    1. It was probably around 9:30 a.m., Debra. Most people would have been awake at that time, but, I hadn't gone to sleep until well past 3:00 a.m., so, I was still sleeping!

      Thank you; that's what I am hoping. I had a couple of other fruit trees, but, they died and I was reluctant to replace them. But, I feel it is time to try again. :)

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  3. Well, that was a scary, exciting day you had. I haven't had the exact situation you did, but there were problems with the house next door in my old neighborhood. There were some helicopter flyovers that found a large crop of marijuana as well as frequent police visits to the house including a SWAT raid once. One of there kids was involved in the drug world. So far, things have been a little calmer in our new neighborhood.

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    1. Yes, it was an exciting start to the day, wasn't it? Not exactly the kind of excitement one needs, though, and I am very glad that I didn't wake up to find some random armed person hiding out in my back yard! That would have been very scary!

      Glad your new neighborhood seems to be calmer! I hope it continues to remain that way!

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  4. That's a little frightening but it's about the same here, quiet for the most part but every once in a while we hear the helicopters circling like that too. I've never heard them say anything but I always lock my doors and stay inside when they are circling like that.

    So glad you got all of your fruit trees, I hope they all do well!

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    1. Yes, it is best to stay indoors with the doors locked when helicopters circle! I turned on the TV to see if it was something that was being covered (didn't see any news helicopters, though) but, there was nothing in the news. Probably just one of many similar incidents taking place in a city the size of ours!

      Thank you; I, too, hope the trees will do well!

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  5. Not the helicopters but a house I and my son worked on was shot in by the boyfriend. We were all locked in all night. I had to draw an outline of what the house was laid out. Then later the police came to my door to ask if I could get the blueprints. Which I did. All we heard all night was the fog horn trying to get his attention. They were people we knew. He got drunk and did the deed. He had passed out so never heard the bull horn. He got five years for that. After my husband and I had to go in to clean up and fix things. Yup it happens all over.

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    1. Wow, that must have been quite intense when it happened! Glad you and your family were safe!

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  6. I'd be terrified if any of that happened around here! I read about America's gun laws and it all seems so very alien. Glad you are safe.

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    1. Thank you, Lady Ella. Every now and then, I hear a certain loud bang sort of noise and I wonder if that was a vehicle backfiring, someone setting off a fire cracker (which are illegal, here, but, no one seems to pay any attention to that!), or if it was a gun shot! But, so far, so good and my child and I have not been harmed!

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  7. Well, I'm glad your afternoon was peaceful for you to clean the china cabinet and play the piano! But at least everyone was well warned of the possible danger.
    All our warnings come from the beagle next door who seems to think everyone needs to know if there is someone passing at the end of his driveway or a squirrel up a tree. But I get a kick out of hearing his "Woowoowoowoowoooo" and often think he is imagining a herd of moose or a bear approaching!

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    1. Thank you, Bushlady. I, too, am glad the rest of the day was peaceful! But, now I am thinking that I should figure out a way to lock the doors to the garden shed!

      Oh, is that the dog who comes to your door for treats? Good to know he's guarding the neighborhood! :D

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  8. The police helicopter often wakes me, usually when they are hovering overhead and using their searchlights. We've never had shouted instructions like that though. Did you manage to get back to sleep?

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    1. Yes, we get the helicopters with search lights, too! No, it was already past 9:00 a.m., when I was woken up and I decided to get up. My daughter, however, slept through it all!

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  9. That must have been unnerving! We're lucky that things are quite quiet here, but one time we did have police running through our garden to the alleyway at the back to chase after some man or other. That's about as much excitement as we've had lol.

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    1. I was more annoyed at being woken up than alarmed, at the time, and it took a while for it to register just what was going on. But, I was more than happy to comply with the orders and stay inside! I guess there were people coming outside to see what was going on and the police were telling them to go back inside!

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