Where There’s Smoke…

For the time being, Chris’ squadron is occasionally still flying missions up in the disaster area and even local flights have resulted in Chris’ flight gear setting off the Geiger counter. My doctor agreed returning to Japan is probably totally fine, but said with all the unknowns of Chris’ exposure and what he’s bringing home, he’d recommend waiting until June when the Bean is past the highest risk window for radiation exposure (22 weeks). So hopefully June will see me back in Japan.

I don’t understand: 1. baby stuff, 2. radiation risks, 3. certain people not having weekends off (oh wait, that’s not what we’re talking about), so I asked the Doc to explain x-ray risks to fetuses. Then maybe I can at least have a basis from which to assess risk. He said most of the risk lies in people who are already predisposed to conditions like Leukemia. That would not include me, so he agreed, “You probably don’t need to worry. The risk is probably low. In 50 years we might find out it wasn’t, but that’s the best information I can give you with what we know now.” So that was comforting…I think.

Anyway in other news, Texas is under a big fat drought and record-breaking April heat. We pulled off the freeway the other day and stopped to investigate some smoke. A small fire was burning merrily so my mom and I stomped it out (in flip flops—it’s 90 degrees here), but soon the gusting wind had fanned it up again…and it was growing. Oops. We observed the nearby gas station, cow pasture and homes downwind, then dialed 911. The operator thanked my mom profusely for calling; a cop car, ambulance and firetruck arrived in under five minutes. The cop probably could have quenched the flames with a gallon of water. Instead he told us to move our car while he accepted handshakes from the firemen and we watched from a distance. Well, if I’m going to follow my mom around at least we can do a tiny public service, right?