I drove in by myself today, taking the little car. pirateguillermo took the truck so that he could load up a bunch of the big things to take home.

We loaded up the truck with the fish tank, cleaning supplies and a ton of plants and plant-related accoutrement, and I offered to drive the truck very slowly up the long way so that the plants wouldn’t be too disturbed, if pirateguillermo would stop at the store to buy sardines for the humane trap we’re using to catch the more feral of our cats. I was rattling up the freeway, listening to a radio program and content to be behind a bus when traffic came to a complete halt. There had been an accident up ahead, and two fire engines and an ambulance came screaming up from behind. I was amazed to see that even in socked-in traffic, cars were able to squeeze left and right enough to let the emergency vehicles by, and did so quickly and without being rude to each other. That was very gratifying.

So, he took the high road (with several stops) and I took the low road, and he made it home afore me. We went inside and while I cooked some dinner, he fished out a phone cord and plugged in the phone and – miracle of miracles! – we have a phone!!! I realized how weird it had been to be effectively incommunicado every night for nearly a week – no telephone, no cell phone, no internet connection, nothing. This makes me feel a tiny bit safer.