Left Heel ad nauseaum

This afternoon I took my heel to see my dermatologist.  She looked at it very carefully, said it ISN'T a fungus infection--so now I've got tons of creams with no where to use them.  There is definately something going on with the skin.  That's what I've been saying--each conversation with a medical person has ended "and it looks funny..."  The Physical therapist is the only one who's picked up on that.  So I got another shot in my heel today then went off to enjoy PT.  I'm a pretty good character spotter--I think my Physical Therapist is a kindred spirit and I really like her.  I may have been sent there to help her in some way.
After PT I rushed up to church for a meeting of the Ruthies.  The Ruth Circle (I think it was called a circle for the first few minutes of its life--then it became the Ruthies) used to be the young women of the church.  I'm about 10 years older than the oldest, but they let me in.  We are now the incipient Wise Women.  Tonight was our regular meeting night, but tonight we met to pray for the Bullis family, those who left us so suddenly and the ones who remain.  I've known Sue since she was about 13 and we played violin and flute duets.  I watched her grow up into an amazingly caring woman.  She was my Deacon when Lee was sick and she took that job seriously.  She mother henned us, made sure we had food when it was needed and companionship when it wasn't.  When I got the infection in my incision and had to have it cut open again to heel from the inside, Sue came up the house when the Visiting Nurses couldn't come and changed my dressings, packing the wound carefully, and acting as though I was doing her a favor.  Susie is part of the unique sounds in Anne and the Bethany Brawlers--we call her the Brawlette, in defference to her gender.
Thank you, God, for giving Sue an amazingly strong circle of women to help her through this dreadful time.  And the helping, for us, is a blessing, a Mitzvah.
Still sad.
xxooxx

Fire in San Bruno

I've skipped great chunks of time, basically because things have been boring.  My left heel is still giving me problems.  I got sent to a podiatrist, who thinks it is tendonitis and sent me to physical therapy.  The physical therapist noticed what I noticed--there's still something wrong with the skin.  She's working on me, but I'm also set to see a dermatologist on Monday.  And so that goes.
Then there's the BIG NEWS.  First and foremost, Glenn and I and our home are fine.  Things could have gotten dicey if the wind had been blowing in a different direction and if we hadn't had such a cold, damp summer, but we are fine.  About 6:15 last night, Glenn was doing the dishes and I was about to step into the shower to get ready to go to Eastern Star.  Initiation, big night.  I heard a strange rumbling, then what sounded like a jet dragging its wheels over our roof, then a bang that shook everything with a sharp jolt, followed by a strange, steady sound.  I thought Glenn had loaded the dishwasher strangely--he thought it was me in the shower.  Then I heard him give a shout.  He said the power station across the street was on fire.  I quickly finished what I'd been doing rather liesurely in the bathroom.  We opened the front door, and this is what we saw:

Actually, what we saw was worse, because I didn't think to take pictures for about an hour.  So imagine the fire ball twice that high.  We quickly realized that it wasn't the power station at all (good thing--not that it hasn't had its share of fires in the 32 years we've lived here).  So what was it?  The speculation was on.  Our across the street neighbor came out and said she heard that the gas station at the top of San Bruno Avenue had exploded.  We all thought about that and decided that wasn't where the fireball was coming from.  Next theory--a plane went down.  That would explaine the noise we all heard--but a plane would burn itself out, and this was not going out.  Besides, the FAA had not gotten any reports of missing planes.  Last and right guess--a ruptured gas main.  Here are more pictures--as close as I ever want to be to something like that:

We could see houses burning pretty much from the start.  I'll refer you to the news and the internet for the grim details.  Our street became a parking lot with people coming and looking.  I had to shoo several people away from our driveway.  We were never evacuated, but if we had been, it would have been a madhouse.  There are only two ways in and out of our tract.  It took them a few hours to get the gas shut off and the main fireball fineally went out.  By then, most of the houses in the neighborhood were fully engaged.  Late into the night, it looked like "The watchfires of a hundred circling camps" of the Battle Hymn of the Republic fame, as houses were allowed to burn out.  It was just too hot to send the firemen in safely.  The first truck on the scene was from a fire station down the street a bit from the explosion.  It was so hot, that the windshield on the fire truck cracked.
When I went to bed--very, very late--I could still see smoke coming up from hot spots, but I felt we were safe.  This morning, it just looked like a war sceen.  I had to go out a couple of times, and I had to take really alternate routes to get where I was going.  I've lived here a long time and know my way around pretty well.  As of this writing, there are three members of our church, from a family of five, who have not been located and are presumed dead--three generations.  I won't be at church on Sunday--I'll be in the East Bay attending my 45th high school reunion.  Glenn said he will go.  He doesn't want to, but he will be there.  Glenn is such a fine man.  When we realized that it wasn't the power plant, but a neighborhood across Skyline Drive, Glenn said that was where our friends lived and was worried about them from the start.  We're all praying for a miracle--isn't denial the first phase?
I have a happy weekend coming up--two weddings wrapped around the reunion.    The first wedding and the reunion are in the East Bay, so I'm spending tomorrow night at the Claremont Hotel.  I was there for my high school grad night, been to a wedding reception there, and done brunch a few times, but I've never stayed there.  I was actually going to spend two nights there, but I have to be at the rehearsal for wedding number two in the early afternoon tomorrow, since I'm fiddling for the wedding.  I wasn't planning on taking the violin with me, but I'm not really sure I'll have time to come home and get it, so i guess it's going for a trip too.  I expect I shall be one tired old lady on Monday.
The phone rang pretty constantly with people from far and near checking up on us.  I finally posted on Facebook that we were not burned to a crisp, and still people have been checking on us.  That is comforting.  So if I haven't told you lately, and lest I miss the opportunity, I love you, dear readers.  Be well.
xxooxx