While I was doing this, a mob of people stormed LODO, overwhelmed the police presence at the tree and tried to build a bonfire to burn the tree down. After the riots a couple of weeks ago, the police had initially been making a strong standing. But their presence had thinned thinking everything had calmed down. Whoever these people were, they took advantage of the dwindling police presence. And there seems to be a strong connection between them and the counter-protesters. Like before, they were carrying a frightening amount of axes and there are reports of Molotov cocktails though nothing has shown up on video yet. The only difference being these rioters seem to be wearing Guy Fawkes masks with a cross painted on the foreheads.
The rioters took it upon themselves to try to burn the tree down. Probably because there was no attempt on the cities part to cut it down. Video does show them using their axes on the tree while trying to erect their bonfire materials, all to no effect. One was caught on camera as he swung his axe. It actually broke against the tree. The wooden handle did, not the head of the axe. But it seems a lot of the guys who took a swing were inspecting the blade of their axes afterward.
The cities response was to immediately shut down all public transportation, which was how I got stranded. At the time I wasn't aware of what was going on, I was just sitting at the bus stop looking alternately at my clock and the arrival/departure times. My parents however were eating at The Capital Grille, which is just down the street, so they got trapped in with all the chaos.
The rioters did get their bonfire built. Using a couple of pickup trucks, they quickly brought in as many wooden pallets as they could fit in the trucks. Stacked em up around the base of the tree, sprayed lighter fluid all over it, and lit a match. One of the rioters was burned pretty badly, though it's unclear how. They're currently at a hospital receiving care, but officials haven't released who the person is or which hospital they're at.
While one of the trucks had managed to get past the concrete barricade the police had set up, the other wasn't also able to get in. The rioters had to pass the pallets over that barricade, which slowed them down and prevented them from being able to build the bonfire properly. One of the speculations for how the one rioter got burned was that they tried to put a pallet into the fire after it had been lit. In any case, the poorly constructed bonfire didn't have the effect they were hoping for. While it did get hot, it didn't get hot enough to do more than scorch the tree. And because it was so slow in getting built, it didn't take long for fire response to put out the blaze.
That said, the second truck that couldn't manage to get into the barricade also failed to start back up when the rioters tried to flee. And because it wasn't moving, it trapped the other truck inside the barrier. The first truck, inside the barricade, caught fire shortly before officials arrived so it's damaged. And both vehicles have been impounded.
While all this was going on, my parents called me to let me know what was going on. This allowed me to call Max for a ride and is how I eventually got home. But being caught up in LODO, my parents had to wait for the police to allow them to go home. Officials were monitoring the streets and controlling who was able to do what, not wanting any further rioting.
So that was my adventure after work. We are all home safe and sound, as is Max. The riots from before are only weeks gone, but with this happening it's like that fear has returned full force. Max stayed with me till Mom and Dad got home, and we just sat in front of the TV dumbfounded. I did get texts from both Hal and Sam making sure I was okay. They were as well, and Sam was with Candace to say she was good.
I'm still blown away that people can feel this strongly about a tree. But at the same time, because of the riots previously, I can already feel myself numbing in response. Is this going to be the new normal?
I had had some thoughts on why I've been so forgetful lately. I was contemplating that while riding the bus to pick up a card for Mom and Dad. I'd always been so good about remembering these things before. I can't imagine forgetting their anniversary, and my birthday, was just because of what all was going on. It makes me wonder if this might be a side effect of my little death.
I'm seeing things, I'm forgetting things, but there's been some otherwise reasonable excuses too. As far as the things I'm seeing, it seems I'm legitimately seeing them, there is something there to see. But I can't help but worry. And things have been busy, the whole world is changing around me, and it's frightening. I'm aware of it, and more than that I'm looking for signs of it's changes. So I've been otherwise engaged and have a right to forget things.
I just don't want to get paranoid about everything, but what if I am having issues? Maybe I should call Dr. Laurie and set up another appointment. He'd probably remind me about seeing a shrink, come to think of it. I had been considering it, maybe I need to go look up those contacts again.
No, let's not yet. Let's start making an effort to look ahead into the month and seeing what's coming. If I can't remember things even after making that effort, then I have reason to schedule an appointment.
So, what's coming up? How far ahead should I look? I think I'll start with a month for now. That'll give me plenty of time I think.
Thanksgiving in a couple of days. Which I'm already starting to plan for. Speaking of which, Sam did get back to me this morning before all the crazy. His parents are insisting that he and Candace join them for Thanksgiving. Sam is aware of how poorly they think of Candace, so I'm not sure why he's agreeing to this. But it sounds like he's going to be placing some ground rules, so hopefully things go well.
Also, Hal joined me again for lunch today. That gave me a chance to ask him what his plans were. He'll be joining his family, though he also sounded like he might prefer coming to our place. He did say he'd miss his cousins if he did that though. But he did suggest that we should do something for Christmas. I think we both have family plans for then also, but if we plan for a day just for us we can go play in the snow or something.
Christmas is more than a month away, strictly speaking, but I've got that down now.
Oh, I have my dentist appointment coming up on the 13th. See, there are good reasons to look ahead on the calendar.
Nothing else in the works.
Alright, I'm going to go to bed and hide under my covers. One more day and then it's my weekend.
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