Nothing Ever Happens

One of my kids' favorite shows is Kipper. Kipper the dog. The dog with the slipper, that's Kipper. Anyway, one of my favorite episodes is one where Kipper spends most of the time looking for something to do. In the end, he goes outside to jump in rain puddles with his friend. Meanwhile, the hat he found in the attic comes in contact with a magic wand and rabbits come pouring out. Kipper, of course, misses this as we hear him outside complaining to his friend that "Nothing ever really happens!"

Well, I frequently find myself saying the same thing about Middlebury- and that's a good thing. We hardly ever have snipers, bombs, wildfires, tornados, anthrax scares, category 4 hurricanes, lunatics with guns, or other horrible disasters. Ok, we have ice storms and occasional floods, but the news around here is pretty tame.

But, something DID happen today. Our own little piece of exciting news. No, I'm not talking about the debate over whether or not we should allow Starbucks and Staples into town, although I have a strong opinion against that. I'm talking about a train derailment, fire, gasoline leaking into the river, and the evacuation of half the town.

As luck would have it, I was out with two kids and a Middlebury College student who is a friend of ours. She was finishing up some purchases at a clothing store south of town, and the kids and I were wandering around, waiting. Suddenly, there was something of a buzz going around among the employees in the store, and I heard one of them explain to a customer that there had been a train accident and that the roads into Middlebury were closed because of a gasoline fire and leak. (At least our gossip is fairly accurate.) It appeared that my friend would have to come back home with me so we could meet Sonja's school bus, and then I could take her back to the college a different way.

On the way home, it occurred to me that the busses might have some trouble with their routes, and I wondered if my daughter's bus would be dropping her off. I checked some web sites at home and discovered that all the elementary school children had been evacuated to either the Middle School or the Elementary School one town south. It wasn't clear which one she would be at, so I called another parent to confer. Then I went to my neighbor's house to tell her the news and ask her to keep an eye out for Sonja just in case the bus brought her home. The Salisbury School looked most promising, so we all got back in the car (forgetting to bring snacks because now I was in low panic mode) and drove down there. It was busy, but not chaotic. They had lists and people directing traffic, etc., but we had to wait awhile for Sonja's bus to come down from the Middle School.

Once we had her checked out, we took a very circuitous route to the College, where poor Tina finally got dropped off at her dorm. It was a bit more than she'd bargained for when she called me earlier today for a ride to the store.

Two out of three kids were asleep as we drove around the town to get home. It was interesting to see everyone all out of sorts as they made their way home. I'm guessing that no one was following their regular route- or, if they were, it was much more congested than usual. I watched people's faces as I drove past them. This is normal for me, because I always see someone I know and have to wave. This time I watched to see how stressed people looked. A few were clearly not happy, some looked worn out (not unusual for 4:30pm), but most looked peaceful and unaffected.

There was a certain element of courtesy as we let people in and waved people on and made room for another car in the traffic. Everyone was a part of this together, and we understood each other's needs. Part of this is because we do live in a small town and you have to be courteous- you see these people all the time. But I also think part of it is because we actually care about each other.

Once home, I made something like dinner and called the neighbors to say we had found Sonja and see if they were ok, too. (They were. They were also relieved to hear that Sonja was home safe.) Then the Church system kicked in, and calls began to circulate to check on individuals and families who lived in the area and might need help. I assured them we were fine and offered our help if anyone should need it. Most of the members could be accounted for (as of 5:30) and were okay.

Tonight, people all over Middlebury (especially in the American Legion building, which is the evacuation center for those who live downtown) will be telling their stories to each other and helping their neighbors and wondering if there will be school tomorrow. Quite a little bit of excitement for one day, I'd say.

And that's the news from Lake Wobegone.