When Bad Things Happen to Good People

My neighbor lost his house today. He's a gruff guy and he gives me a hard time every chance he gets. But that's not what comes to mind first when I think of him. I remember when he patiently brought my wandering horse home last spring, following the horse slowly and carefully with the red lights on his truck flashing.

Those red lights are meant to help his neighbors in quite a different way. He's one of the wonderful volunteer firefighters in Etna. This picture shows how we fight fires in the country. We have no fire hydrants. Tankers from all nearby fire departments - some ten miles away - line up to supply water. In addition to our own Etna Fire Department, I saw Freeville, Dryden, Lansing and Cayuga Heights trucks and rescue vehicles. I know other departments were standing by covering the stations of the departments at the scene.

I know there's no way to make this right for him and his family. But already planning to help in any way we can.