Tales from the Cryptic

I haven't been blogging because of changes in the newsroom and I haven't had the heart. Ryan isn't here anymore...and nearly everyone is really sad about that. I have seen good times and bad times in here. Some things remain constant, like Jeff over there in the corner that I adore even though he drives me crazy...and Brendi behind the desk out front...and Candise in layout that always brings a ray of light to my day...and Safina in the ad department and Teresa in accounting...good friends all of them. Those people are like a comfortable t-shirt or a good pair of boots that has taken years to break in and get just right. Having them around is comforting and makes me feel good. They are family.

But there has been a lot of change in here in the last month or so. I saw it happen a year ago when Michael and Emily left, and I'm seeing it again now. I won't comment one way or another...but suffice to say I will likely be finding another blog subject - if I continue to blog at all.

There is big change in the air all around - not just here. Life was cruising in the same direction for a very long time, then this year it suddenly changed direction...and fully went the opposite way. Many of the changes are good...and some are not so good. I'm learning things aren't always as they seem - even when they seem to be all right.

I know this is cryptic and weird...but that will change too. Sooner than later.

Add a little fire to the mix.

We've been cooking with gas in the newsroom today. There was a big fire that started in the trailer park on Davis and spread down to the West Elementary bus barn and ran next to the Collegiate Station housing. Jeff went down when it first started, but then Patti and I went to take a look-see and snap some photos when we heard a mutual aid call go out over the scanner.

No one was hurt, but there was a lot of destruction. With the drought conditions and high winds it could have been a lot worse, but our firemen (along with firemen from Clinton, Custer City, Thomas and Hydro) were as fierce as the fire and had it under control before it burned more than it did. Pretty amazing stuff, really.

I wrote a story about how our school superintendent was bravely trying to stomp out the fire (along with other bystanders) as it approached the school, and was nearly overwhelmed. Our brush pumper truck had just run out of water and the flames were spreading like...well...wildfire. My editor and I watched in horror and began screaming for the men to get out of there because a gust of wind made the fire lurch around them. Then, just like Superman, a Clinton brush pumper came bursting through the black smoke and began spraying foam around the stompers. They literally arrived in the nick of time.

Quite a day, really, in the land of red dirt and tornadoes.

Not-so-quotable-quotes...

Random quotes from the newsroom today:

"Kirby, if you scream in my office I'll pull your hair" - Brenda

"I only sneeze MAN sneezes!" - Jeff

"There are starving children in Africa and you're throwing away food! Give me those pretzels! What would your mother say?" - Jeff

"Beth (referring to my Moma), we know you're up there listening to this" - Patti

"I am American. I speak American." - Ryan

"Anything you cook with butter, you can put it in. You can put it on your toast...in your spaghetti...it's awesome." - Kirby

"Quit back talking me today!" - Patti "I love it when you yell at me though." - Kirby

"Today is my day for stating only the obvious. Elton John is gay and this song bites." - Me

The Occulist

I'm not blogging from the newsroom tonight. It's been rough in there the last couple of days...I have wanted to hide under my desk until the madness passes but...

Sometimes change can be hard. Especially if you like things the way they are. For some reason all this reminds me of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby". Giddy fun in the beginning until the eyes of God see everything.

I suppose that doesn't make sense to anyone who hasn't read the novel. Or seen the movie.

So, my boys and I are cooking up a pan of vegetables, drinking a glass or two of red and listening to Etta James - and feeling nostalgic for better days.

April Foolishness.

We got in trouble for being too loud in here today. Our publisher said he couldn't hear himself think...so...here we sit, silently proofing pages and suppressing giggles like third graders.

Writers aren't known for their maturity, sobriety or personal hygiene.

It's Friday, and the weekend edition is nearly complete. It's been a stupendous week. I liked all the stories I wrote...which doesn't happen every week. I kissed my elbow in celebration.

Jeff and I got into a screaming match earlier today over gun control. It was awesome...one of our better fights. My Aunt B. came in a little later to bring me a magazine with a whole page of dog quotes in it and I was yelling at Jeff at the time. She nearly turned around and walked back out.

But there is a great love in the newsroom. I mean that.