an alarming awakening

It's pretty quiet out here in the country, generally. Usually when something wakes us up in the morning it's birds (who, I have to report, have been chirping some latelyólittle guys must think it's spring) or the occasional construction noise across the street. This morning, though, we jerked from our restful slumber by the sound of a car alarm, an alarm which was then allowed to sound for ten minutes. 6:05 to 6:15. I'd say it sounded about twice as loud as our own alarm clock would if we ever set it any more; now that we're self-employed we can loaf around in the morning as much as we want. Although early morning sirens really get in the way of the loafing, we find.