Last night I was down at the pub, havin’ a pint with the lads, and one of the lads has a 7th grader who goes to Whatcom Middle School…
…who went Whatcom Middle School.
Apparently, not long after we said good night and headed home, Whatcom Middle School, built in 1903, the oldest school in the district, one of the oldest in the state, burst into flames, the flames were fed by high winds, and the historic building was all but destroyed.
My friend’s son and nearly 600 other students and staff do not have school or work today and tomorrow, and there’s no word yet on where they will go or when.
Ironically, the building had been undergoing seismic retrofitting for many months, so now, if an earthquake hits, the skeleton of the building is less likely to collapse. Great.
As the photo here depicts, the inscription above the front entrance to the school reads, “Waste Not Thy Hour”.
This could have happened during the day, many people could have been injured and/or killed, and hundreds are unexpectedly displaced. This incident reminds us of how our precarious life can be, and just how important it is to not waste thy hour.
