There was a house fire in the mission district in San Francisco this evening. Actually, I think three houses burned. It was just a few blocks from our house, but some friends of ours share a back alley with the burning buildings. As we were driving home, keeping tabs on the status via their Twitter updates Thor asked me, “If we had to go home right now and grab what we could out of the house in just a few minutes to save it from fire, what would you grab?”

Pretty much without missing a beat I said, “The computer hard drive with years of photos and the boxes of photos up in the downstairs closet.”…. “Oh! And the photo albums in the upstairs closet. And the box of digital video tapes. And my engagement ring.” I realized that when push comes to shove what matters most are those things that can’t be replaced, and more specifically, items that represent memories. I’ve got a house full of things that I like and enjoy, but there’s not much that would be heart-breaking to lose. I’ve continued to think about this scenario throughout the evening and have added my friend, Ani’s painting that’s hanging over our sofa to the list. But there isn’t much else that I would risk myself for. I’m obviously not alone. It makes one realize how unimportant “stuff” is. It also makes me realize that I should really consolidate the things that I would want to save so they can all be quickly grabbed. Ok, so it’s a morbid thought but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.