There Is A Cop At The Door

The doorbell went off at 5 AM and three dogs went wild. Most days I don’t wake up before 6:30 or so, at least I try not to. Today was supposed to be one of those days and had it not been for the cop it would have been.

Even though I heard the bell ring my initial concern was whether we were having an earthquake and if so, where are the kids. At that time of day it is a safe to say they are going to be fast asleep in bed or answering a call of nature.

Looked up at the bedroom ceiling and to see if the ceiling fan was swinging and was pleased to see that it was not. Listened carefully to try and determine if the children were awake and wondered who would be at my door. Wondered for a moment whether I wanted to get the gun out of the safe or just grab a baseball bat.  Decided that both were unnecessary and looked out the peephole on my front door and saw two cops standing on my porch.

This is not normal, par for the course or anything that I would expect to see. Only one way to find out what they want so I stepped outside and found myself face to face with policemen who looked like they were about 12.

“Good morning officers. What can I do for you?”

“The door on your car is open. We didn’t want anyone to take anything. Also, we wanted to know if this garage door opener is yours.”

“No, that remote isn’t mine. Thank you for telling me about the door.”

“Ok, be careful sir.”

I nodded my head and the two of them walked away. I watched them walk down the street and wondered where their patrol car was. It could have been parked around the corner, I don’t know.

Don’t know why they were walking through my ‘hood. It is pretty quiet and sedate here. After I finish writing this I plan on calling the desk sergeant at our local station to ask if this was a routine patrol or if something else is going on.

The Northridge Earthquake

Did I mention that today is the 18th anniversary of  The Northridge Earthquake.  I remember it well. It is the reason that the parking structure at my university collapsed. It knocked down apartment buildings, broke the mall, destroyed part of a freeway and wreaked havoc  all over.

As far as I know there is no relationship between the anniversary of the quake and the visit from the LAPD. But from time to time I think about it. I had been through a bunch of earthquakes before that, but they didn’t scare me.

They don’t exactly “scare” me now but I have a much healthier regard for the power that Mother Nature can bring down upon us. And if I didn’t it wouldn’t take much to remind me of what a good quake can do.

Somewhere the Shmata Queen is shaking her head and rolling her eyes at me. She doesn’t understand why I live in a place where quakes might hit. If we talk about it I’ll remind her that I went through the LA Riots and that I have been evacuated from a forest fire. Been through other large quakes and have some other good stories that I have accumulated through the  years.

To be clear my attitude about these things is simple. I am not invincible and one day I will most certainly die but the method of my death hasn’t been determined yet. If we go off of basic statistics I expect to live for quite some time. Three of my grandparents lived well into their nineties.  Two of my great-grandparents did as well and two of my great-great grandparents made it well past 100.

I am grateful for my health and what I have. I pay attention to these things and obviously as a father I am cognizant of the things that impact the welfare of my children. And now my friends I need to end this post for I am in need of coffee because it is rarely pleasant to wake up before sunrise to find two cops at your front door.