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False Alarm


On Thursday night, we had a wonderful dinner at the All Streak restaurant in Cullman.  We laughed and lingered, and it was late when we got back to the retreat, with lots of work to do to prepare for the next day.  So when the fire alarm sounded just before midnight, most of us were still dressed and working.

I left my room with nothing but my camera.  I had been doing some work with it so I just picked it up.  Almost everyone else brought their phones, and one smart lady wheeled her luggage out; she is not one to be unprepared.



We heard sirens screaming almost immediately, and in a matter of minutes, we had police and enough firemen to put out a major fire.  Brother Brendan arrived next, and after several minutes of consulting with the fire chief, they determined it was a faulty alarm and we were allowed to go back inside.


When the alarm sounded the second time within the hour, most of us were in bed.  This time, I took the time to put on my robe before I went out.  We heard the sirens coming, but all at once, they were silenced and the trucks went back to the fire station.  We speculated that the alarm company had called them. Brother Brendan came and checked everything out before we were allowed to go back to bed.

On Friday morning, it took a little extra coffee to get me sufficiently caffeinated to do our interviews.

My life is far from  perfect, but it is never boring.
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