Today, I put a piece of Janet's cake into the oven to broil it, as I always do in order to make it more crispy. In that moment, a friend called and I engaged myself in a lovely Christmas conversation.

Suddenly a horrible sound blared out and a loud voice rumbled: “Fire! Leave immediately!”

The noise upset the dogs; they started to bay.

“What is THAT?!” I called out scared and confused.

“FIRE!” the omnipresent voice continued.

My friend on the phone kept saying something but I couldn't hear her.

“LEAVE IMMEDIATELY!" sounded from the walls.

“Stop it!” I shouted back.

“Wuff! Wuff!” the dogs went crazy.

I noticed blue smoke billowed over the oven where I have forgotten my piece of cake.

“FIRE!”

“There is no fire!” I made a poor attempt to calm the almighty voice.

“Ruff! Ruff!”

“LEAVE IMMEDIATELY!” the voice was drilling itself into my brain.

How to turn it off? I couldn't concentrate.

“Owoooo!!!” the dogs started to howl.

When I finally composed myself enough to deactivate the alarm system, I heard someone pounding at the door.

I opened and got blinded by flashing police and fire truck lights. I took a deep breath. That was a moment when I needed to apply my best English...

“What about a cup of tea?” I asked and smiled at seven men in uniforms.

Janet's Christmas cake is in the meantime entirely gone and I must say they all liked it.

I was crossing the Coal River Bridge in St. Albans when all of a sudden pink sunshine appeared through the fog causing enchanting reflections in the water. Since I was alone in the middle of the bridge, I decided to stop for five seconds and take a picture. I jumped out of the car, took perhaps two steps toward the railing; then it happened! From out of nowhere, cars appeared from both directions and stopped. I gave up on taking the picture of course, placed a hand on my heart and bowed my head in a gesture of apology. I felt stressed imagining what the drivers thought, seeing a lunatic with an iPhone in hand standing in the middle of a busy bridge. My beloved city of Vienna came to mind where the people as fine and honorable would still punish me with irritated looks, angry honking or even calling: “Hey lady! What do you think you’re doing?!” I took a deep breath and looked up to those West Virginia drivers. What I saw again took my breath away. Not a single angry face. Everybody was smiling wide and showing their teeth like rows of pearls, some even waving at me. What kind and generous hearts! I smiled back, got into the car and unblocked the traffic. I felt gifted by those people. Gifted and happy. Merry Christmas! ❤️