05 September 2007

Ink stained fun

I was just sitting around feeling miserable about the achy state of my heart and my recent overwhelming home ant infestation when my neighbor Jay called out from his back porch:

"Sue, hey Sue."

I came out to see what he wanted and he pointed out a glowing red sky in the distance.

"You wanna go check it out?" I asked. Even though he was wearing his jammies, he said yes. Jay is a good sport that way.

We hopped in the Bluemobile and went looking for news. We had to drive around for a bit because the power was out downtown and it was dripping with blackness and we took a few twists and turns because everything looked so unfamiliar in the dark dark dark.

But eventually we found a hillside on fire, a downed power line, some firefighters and sheriffs, and a handful of onlookers. I dug my press pass out of the glove box and dragged Jay out of the car.

"Um, I'm in my PJs here," he said. I think he might have been a little high, too.

He was too late to stop me. I was already in girl reporter mode and started talking to people and found the guy who had discovered the fire. I scrawled some quotes on a folder I had found in my car because a notebook was nowhere to be found.

After a couple minutes, I decided that it wasn't that big of a deal and that Jay probably wanted to go home, so I brought him back and called the night editor with my quotes. Somebody else will get all the details from the fire department and write the story tomorrow.

I don't care that I'm not writing the story or that I won't get more than an "also contributed" at the bottom.

It just put me in such a better frame of mind. Me going out on a news story is like how a border collie must feel while herding sheep: doing what I am meant to do. All neurons firing. Happy.

9 comments:

super des said...

You're like a German Shepherd that needs to wear a backpack.

I don't know, I just wanted to stick with the worker dog analogies.

LittlePea said...

Work can be a good way to turn one's energies into something positive. Especially girl reporter mode energies :o)
Glad you're up at at em' as my Grandpa would say.

QT said...

I think my favorite line is "Um, I'm in my PJ's here"

Unlike you, I hated covering the fires. I always felt so intrusive.

cadiz12 said...

what i miss most about the newsroom is that adrenaline buzz in the air when a big story breaks. it's nice to hear that recapturing that feeling is possible, even if it's rare.

VenturaMom from said...

You reporters think the weirdest things are fun. Despite being gone from a daily paper for 5+ years, Hubby still gets excited about a brushfire.

Amy said...

how did i miss the fact that you are a reporter? I was one, too, in my former life. Cool.

BetteJo said...

Didn't know either. And I don't even play one on tv!

SUEB0B said...

I have a real job, too. Freelance reporting is just what I do for fun. Weird, huh?

Suzanne said...

How intrepid of you! I am inspired.

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