It was a planned burn. This vacant house across the street from our favorite playground was up in flames just as I was on my way to pick Taj up at school. So, as a fun faalavelave (Samoan word for break from the ordinary routine), we stopped to watch the house burn with a crowd of other people.
The coolest part was the fire chief came over and let the kids ask questions. Taj was right there asking about how they protected the trees and why they were doing it. They did 8 practice drills with area fire fighters that day and we were watching them finally let it burn to the ground.
Taj has officially declared his latest grownup profession – firefighter.
