Sad, sad the bitter tale

Well, yesterday a sad thing happened in Lynden, which was that a historic downtown building, Delft Square, formerly the Lynden Department Store, burned down. My grandpa worked at the Lynden Department Store for a while, and my uncle rebuilt it into Delft Square.

I saw the smoke yesterday when I was driving home from Bellingham on the Hannegan. First I thought it was steam from the Darigold milk drying plant, but that usually is white, and doesn't show up on a cloudy day like yesterday. This was dirty smoke, not steam. Then when I turned onto Front Street, I could see the fire trucks and the road blocks. I had to hurry home to go pick up my car from the shop and get ready for a class, so I couldn't gawk.

This evening, after I came home from my last class of my paralegal program (hooray!!), I took the time to drive by. Some of the windows that were broken have wood in them now. There still is a ladder truck. I gather the building is still hot and they are still spraying it down.

This evening the breaking news is that it seems two middle school aged boys started the fire. They have been arrested and will be charged. Sad for them and their families. I wonder if they are remorseful. I would imagine they are scared. And their parents must feel terrible.

A terrible thing for the business owners. I hope they are all able to restart. But how horrible to watch all your inventory get ruined, all the money, work, and time you've invested. And what a hassle to go through the insurance claim process and try to replace everything. And for the time it takes to go through all that, you're not making any money, so the loss just grows. As a former store owner, I can imagine how devastating it would be. I don't know if I would have had the heart to start over, but if someone's business were more prosperous than my store was, they might have more incentive.

Meanwhile, in my new line of work as legal assistant, tomorrow is a work day and I need some rest. How wonderful to know I don't have to make two commutes tomorrow or in the future. Thanks Whatcom Community College, for your paralegal program, but I must admit I'm glad to finish!