Fire!

The fire fighters came today.  Not to put out a fire, though we did get to spray the fire hose.  It's Fire Prevention Week!


We passed our fire drill test; everyone made it out in time.  A fireman came to our class to talk about what to do during a fire.  Each year I think I've heard it all, yet somehow they find something new to tell us.  The first thing the fire department does when they come to a fire is to cut a hole in the roof for the smoke to leave; then they can usually tell where the fire is coming from.  Our speaker brought in a heat detector gun that shows the difference in heat in its surroundings.  So if there's a fire in the ceiling, they can aim it up there and detect where the most heat is.  Cool!


Outside, we toured two of the trucks.  I got some great pictures of my littlest students trying to fill the bulky firemen's jackets.  The firemen kept trying to get me to do stuff, "Do you want to try anything on?  Do you want a turn using the hose?  Do you have any questions?"  I did shoot off the hose; they cranked the pressure all the way up for me.


In MN history today, we learned about the voyageurs of the fur trade and their 40ft. long canoes.  That got my students all excited about canoeing at Camp Omega.  And then it reminded them of all the other times they went canoeing and something happened to them.  About 50 stories later (okay, I'm exaggerating) we finally got to the part about portaging canoes, something they found absolutely fascinating.  I was quite happy to answer their questions.


Pottery class is tonight.  I also have a list of things to pick up from Walmart, so I should probably get going sooner rather than later.  I wonder if Walmart has the kind of arrows I need.  In case you haven't heard this story, this summer (before I left for El Salvador), I placed an order at Scheel's for a recurve bow.  They didn't have the kind I needed in stock, so it had to be special ordered.  Three months later it finally came in.  And they didn't have any of the arrows I need, that is, unless I wanted to spend $50 for 6 of them.  Just for target practice? Not happening.  So we'll see what Walmart has in stock.