Thursday night at 12:10 I was just drifting off to sleep when the sound of a helicopter over my head aroused me. After about ten more minutes of the copter noise I got up and looked out my bedroom window, to the back yard and the hill down to the pond. We have 3/4 of an acre of property in a pie shape down to Blackhawk Lake. The copter circled our back yard and the pond. I sat on the bed and thought about why this would be. A lost child? Coyotes after a pet? Animal loose from the zoo?
Then two men with flashlights appeared running down the hill and I decided that would be just a good of a time as any to pick up the phone and dial 911. Guys in the backyard is never really a good sign. Eagan police rock. The dispatcher answered on the first ring. (I have made calls to report accidents driving home late from gigs in Austin where I was put on hold for up to five minutes. . . ) I told her I lived on Blackhawk Road and there was a helicopter over my house and two guys with flashlights in my back yard. She was totally tracking. She said--those are our officers (relief. . . ). They were chasing a burglar (not such a relief). They went sprinting down the hill. My heart was pounding. . . I locked the (thanks Kathy Trimble) solid oak doors with brass locks to the kids rooms and went to the piano room to look out front where three squad cars in full regalia were parked in front of the driveway. Great. Last time I checked, they weren't sending out helicopters and multiple squad cars for high school kids toilet papering houses. . .
The copter left by 12:50 and by 1:10 the three squad cars were gone. I called the police back and she told me they had cleared the area (good news) and they were convinced he wasn't there (not such great news). I was hoping she would say they caught the burglar. Should I go to bed. . . I asked her? I'm alone in the house with two kids. She said--yes, if my doors and windows were locked I should go to bed. I felt so much better then. Not. . . .
So I laid in bed and thought about how our house was made of love and nothing but love could surround it and about how angels float around the perimeter and I actually drifted off to sleep. I wove prayers into our house while we built it--I have never been scared here. I was scared then. Suburban courage.
The other time my heart was racing was to play my one big anthem with the choir tonight. This time, it was a good racing. A happy excited racing. Not a panic racing. But it still took courage.
I thought about how much courage it takes to make the world go around. Yes, there is performance anxiety, and people who do public speaking--but I thought about those folks who deliver food in Africa for Feed My Starving Children. I thought about my friend's husband on the Houston swat team. I thought about our baby sitter's husband Scott in Afghanistan using his bomb sniffing dog to "clear the area." I thought about those cops running down my backyard into the dark woods. I hoped they knew the pond wasn't frozen through yet. . . I hoped they didn't trip over the stump we left on chain saw day. . . to say the least. . . how their hearts must race.
We saw a play last night at Eastview High. It took courage for those kids to get up there and act so well.
It takes courage to change bad relationships.
My friend is an attorney to who defends people. It takes courage when someone's future is on your shoulders in a court of law.
It also takes some courage to write down your thoughts and share them.
I guess when push comes to shove, it takes courage to do just about anything of any value. To teach. To parent. To lead. To design buildings people will use for years. To train bomb sniffing dogs. To chase burglars.
Left to my own accord--it wouldn't take too much courage for me to stay in my house and make sure I had all my drawers cleaned out--some days that is what I feel like doing. But, I want to be brave and put myself out into the world.
Here's to us all--cops and musicians--and all the big and small courage we share.
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