I don't wish to tempt fate but I often wonder, if there were a natural disaster here and I had to evacuate quickly, what I would grab. The answer is very easy: Simone, Simone, Simone! [My dog, if you are new to this blog.]
Long ago, when there was a fire alert in a block of flats where I was living in Cardiff [UK], I left the building clutching: my dog, my teddy and a bottle of whisky. The firemen thought I'd shown great presence of mind in bringing the latter! [Can't stand the stuff now, by the way.] Do readers have a "mental list" of things they'd grab in such an event?
These thoughts go through my mind [usually at night], I've decided, because in the early days [and these are still early days for me] you don't feel quite as "safe" in a new country. Is this the experience of others, too? After all, I reflect, not much can happen to you in Britain, apart from breaking your neck by slipping on an icy pavement, getting stabbed for your mobile phone, being blown up or poisoned by radiation....
Etna update: yesterday the airport had to close in the evening for the seventh day in succession. The authorities in Catania have asked the Italian government for a nationally appointed team of experts to monitor the volcano's activity all year round.
6 comments:
'The authorities in Catania have asked the Italian government for a nationally appointed team of experts to monitor the volcano's activity all year round.'
I find this amazing and perhaps a little cover their butts type of statement. Etna has been doing its thing for years. If it hasn't been studied to death by now, it never will.
My list:
1. Living creatures (the boys, Hubby, the dog and cats, etc.)
2. My photo albums and genealogy research. That stuff is priceless!
Everything else can go up in flames, because it is replaceable.
Hi,Steve. I never thought of it like that but you could be right. Local teams do, of course, monitor the volcano and it is monitored by ingv, the national agency. I think in Catania they just want a bit more advice and help as climate change is increasing the number of eruptions. They are also worried about the effects of the ash.
Hi, Bonnie. Yes, living creatures are of course the priority and then, as you say, irreplaceable stuff like photos.
"my dog, my teddy and a bottle of whisky"
Wonderful list!
In the event of an emergency before 12 noon, I would have to wake Younger Son, so that would be first on the list.
Then it would be grab Harvey - and hope he wouldn't refuse to go out - and out.
If there were a little extra time, then it would be photos (must be a girl thing).
The boys, I would just grab my sons, and they would grab the cat, the fish and the rabbit. Oh, and I guess my husband too.
I have actually had this happen. I was awakened about 2 or 3 a.m. by a ringing phone, but when I answered it, no one was there. I went back to bed. Soon, my neighbors were pounding on my door, telling me to get out because the building was on fire. My husband (now) had only been living there about a week. I briefly considered what to grab on my way out. I had just finished making a quilt that had taken a year and a half, and that was the first thing that popped into my mind as I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth. If I was going to be out on the street, it wasn't going to be with morning breath. When I finished the task, we left the building with absolutely nothing in hand. Fortunately, the fire was put out quickly, and we back in the apartment by 5.
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