FIRST RESPONDERS READY TO GO

The long arm of the law at Beaverton Farmers Market. Image via DG Studios

In exhibition or action, First Responders are first for a reason.

Every emergency, natural or man made, needs the same thing:

HELP!

First Responders are that help.

The more you know about them, the harder their job feels.

First Responders have lives like the rest of us off the job. They run errands, go to the gym, paint a wall.

On the job they lay everything down for their fellow man, and they do it first.

Firemen and police ran toward the Twin Towers, not away.

In live fire shootings it’s the same. You’ve seen the video of disasters in Dallas and Paris where men and women in uniform work to calm things down.

All is calm.

I visited three of my favorite places this past week, Beaverton Farmers Market, Oregon Brewers Festival, and Hillsdale Blueberry Pancake Breakfast.

These are places teeming with people up one aisle and down the next like gatherings anyplace around the world.

Except with a Pacific Northwest dash.

Mmmm, tomatoes.

Farms from around the Portland metro region bring the goods in every week. It’s part of farming and going to market.

People work one side of the counter, farmers work the other.

Our favorite policeman works both sides.

The next time you roll out of the driveway with a day of exploring planned, keep in mind who is tending the store, who is tending the streets.

You walk the rows and rows of pop up shade tents amazed at the bounty of places so close to Portland.

From goodies, and good for you food, to the goofy people you see in the crowd, it all feels normal.

Just a summer day with flowers and a bag of hand pies.

Not a care in the world one moment, just like other open air markets around the world.

If something happens that calls for First Responders, they stand ready.

From a community police effort in full gear in Beaverton, to a fire truck in Hillsdale, the pros you see there are the same you’d see in any emergency.

If we learn anything else this year, it’s to take a moment and soak in the peaceful gatherings you find yourself in.

Take a moment t0 hear children play, their innocent voices counting down for Hide and Seek.

Take a moment to stop, and yes, smell the flowers. You’ll be glad you did.

Baby boomers and their hippie sub-set agree, stop and smell the flowers.