Distant Boom

 I'd be remiss if I didn't give a little air time to this.....

So.  As a young person of the 1980s (generation of imminent nuclear war), I spent some time worrying about whether or not I'd see adulthood.  Global warming wasn't a thing yet, but Al Gore would be talking about that in a few years yet. A lot of that was buried until last week. Now with Putin storming Ukraine, he is all about putting his nukes on high alert.

Which woke up all kinds of sleeping fears.

About noon yesterday, under a clear blue sky, I heard a distant boom. I stopped still.  Elder yelled from the man cave, "Did you hear that? Was that thunder?"

I looked up at the cloudless sky. "Yes.  And......no."

I waited. I heard it again. 

And all I could think was "Shitfuck."

Elder came in and saw my face. "What's wrong?"

I hugged him. And then I showed him the latest headlines in the newspaper. 

He sat down and read it. I ran upstairs to bring my work computer down.  He hugged me. And we waited. 

And....nothing. The radio continued its usual broadcast. My phone didn't go off.

"I remembered where I heard that before," Elder said. "That's what it sounds like when you are emptying a dumpster."

I sighed. He went back to the man cave.  And I listened to the latest reports on climate change.

My kids have a two-fer.

I stayed downstairs. And prayed.