Morning Drill

Our cozy little retirement property borders on a school yard.  I believe I posted once here (or maybe it was on the now disgraced FB) that while I sit on my patio drinking my coffee in the morning, I'm treated to the school's morning announcements over the PA system, and it makes me feel like I'm on the set of MASH.

This morning, as I sat under my newly installed rain canopy beside my back door (Oregon's drought, at least in THIS portion of the state, seems to have come to a decidedly soggy end) the announcements came floating over the school yard at precisely 8:00. A man's voice...the recorded sound of children giggling.  I didn't bother to make out the words.  The sound has become part of my morning ritual.  Comforting, in a way...  (Though, given the ongoing complications of COVID and the lack of meaningful protections in schools, maybe a little less than comforting.)

About a half hour after the announcements, as I sat lingering over my second cup of coffee, I detected another amplified voice rising over the sound of raindrops on the patio cover.  It was repetitive.  Tinny.  Sounded like a robot from a 50's sci-fi flick.

As it continued to repeat and repeat, I was able to catch the words.

"Emergency alarm has been activated.  Emergency alarm has been activated." 

 All I could think was, "ACTIVE SHOOTER,"

I didn't hear any gunfire, so I'm going to assume (hope) it was an Active Shooter DRILL.

What a thing to have to hope for.

Gone are the days when all you would expect to hear carried on the wind from a school yard is the sound of the chattering voices of kids at play.

We live in a completely Fucked. Up. World.