Early Morning Fire

5:15 this morning my Chocolate Lab barks at something, who knows, maybe the wind but it wakes me up. About 15 minutes later I hear the firetrucks go out and as I lay in the bed I wonder where they are going. I tell myself, probably a false alarm or something minor, then no sooner than that thought leaves my head the phone rings. It's Bill, one of the reporters/photogs that I know and he tells me that the country club is on fire..Big Time. I had already scheduled the day off to go see my son receive an award for citizenship at the capital, some 70 miles away at 11:00 a.m. so I grabbed my camera and ran out the door to the fire scene, about 4 miles down the road. When I arrived the building was fully involved with flames which is pretty rare around here because our fire dept. is truly second to none on getting there in a hurry. I hoped out of the truck shooting, checking white balance and exposure and trying to capture the moment as they say. Daylight was still an hour away and this thing was burning, it was an incredible sight to say the least. After about 200 frames I called it quits and ran home to change clothes and head for Columbia. There we heard the gov's speech, got my son's award grabbed a bite of pizza and zipped back so I could download, then to baseball practice, eat, write this blog and watch T.V. Just a average day. Did I mention I'm pooped. Then I relize the historical significance of this fire, a place where people have gathered, worked, played and place a family has built, now all gone ,burnt to the ground.