The place there is certainly smoke, you will find one other injustice

As the night cooled off and the crisp autumn air settled in, we smelled the smoke.

"We should certainly get a chiminea so we can have a warm fire to sit by in the yard," I told my husband. He smiled, as if to say, "Yes, dear," and continued on his merry way.

I am convinced he was pondering, "Certain. We've just set new siding on the home and set in new windows, let's risk burning it down some chilly night so the family can sit outside of the heated home and be toasty warm."

It was intermission on our on a regular basis scheduled spouse and children evening, which is undoubtedly "daughter's" night since she picks the motion picture and dinner.

We seen the smoky smell soon after pausing the film to make popcorn and refill our drinks. Not viewing smoke in the immediate vicinity and knowing the popcorn hadn't burned, we gathered our goodies and headed back again into the basement, in which you'll find it very easy to pretend we are sitting in a movie theater with all of the mounted animal skulls blocking our view of the screen.

Sirens in the distance were escalating louder, then the flashing red and white emergency lights pulsed by means of the window of the entrance door, reflecting down the stairs and into the basement. My husband opened the garage door in time for us to see the fire trucks pass by the household.

We could nevertheless scent a little something burning but didn't see anything at all on fire in the quick place. We assumed it was a bonfire gone awful that Friday night time and didn't worry ourselves with the commotion.

The up coming early morning we discovered white foam, as thick as a fresh new blanket of snow, in the park across the road. The very last time vandals attacked the children's playground they left shaving cream on the slide, the swings and anywhere the small children would touch. Perhaps they bought a offer on a situation of shaving cream yet again.

No this kind of luck, as we quickly discovered. The foam substance had been used by firefighters to douse a wooden play framework vandals had set on fire.

Not also long once that discovery, the perform structure disappeared, maybe permanently, a result of the constant vandalism requiring repairs to the playground devices once liked by the neighborhood small children.

We breathe a collective sigh of reduction on weekend mornings when the park has been untouched by vandals. We cringe when we learn damaged swings and beer bottles, empty beer cans and food wrappers tossed on the floor significantly less than 6 tips from a trash can.

Vandals not long ago damaged the Lincoln statue that overlooks my father's closing resting place at Mount Wish Cemetery and overturned headstones belonging to cherished ones prolonged passed.

If caught, what will the punishment be for vandals with this sort of disregard for many people? If record is any indication, they deal with probation, a good -- not even a slap on the wrist.

Vicki Estes is a Topeka freelance writer. She can be reached at vaestes@sbcglobal.net.