Breaking News (from like 27 hours ago)

REEEEERRR-rrrrrr REEERRR-rrrrr

That's the sound a siren makes. It's not that unfamiliar to hear it outside in the distance here in Chicago. Actually (not lying) I hear one right now, faintly, as some ambulance hauls an old person to the hospital or something.

Yesterday, I heard one, then two, then like 18. I thought "oh somethin' good is happening out there!" So I looked out my living room window and saw THIS:



Oh no, my neighbors are on FIRE! Their building is an eye sore, but still it's on FIRE!

OOH now there's a helicopter!



Now there are THREE helicopters and it looks like they're involved in a syncronized swimming routine!



That means that this shit is probably on the news.. oh look it is:



And, finally, I counted 27 (from my vantage point) fire trucks surrounding the building (not 27 in this photo I'm sure):



From my condo I couldn't see the side of the building that was actually on fire, but the entire ordeal did create about 20 minutes of entertainment for me before I left for the gym yesterday afternoon. The action was still going on 4 hours later but I'm happy to report that, last I heard anyway, there were no injuries or deaths. Spectical, yes. Death, no.

I have this crackpot theory that Chicago has a fire curse. I mean the entire city DID burn to the ground a hundred (something) years ago. And I feel like there's a strangely high number of house, building, office fires in this city each year. It's like the curse keeps trying to get the city to go up in flames.. we just don't make buildings out of wood anymore so it's more difficult. God bless brick and steal.

And God bless you,
M.db