Platypuss here. The title should explain why I'm whispering, but here are some details. What a day the poor Monsters had yesterday! Not only was there a huge snowstorm so that the new part to their broken heat venting pipe could not be procured, talking with the home insurance agent about covering the damage that the broken heat pipe had caused revealed the fact that toxic fumes could present a serious danger if the pipe became dislodged again and we happened to want heat in freezing temperatures... Monsters can become quite agitated about things like this, and also worry about their Monster parrots and chinchillas to a degree that would seem absurd under less extreme conditions.
The storm continued and all students cancelled piano lessons. The vent pipe kept becoming dislodged by snow falling off the roof, and no duct tape in the house! A sling of baling twine finally remedied the situation, shortly before the power went out.
The Monsters handled this crisis moderately well, but were largely unaware of how much Animal help they had as they went through it all. For instance, who was it but Animals giving them the gentle yet unrelenting suggestion that it might be best to shovel early in the afternoon? And then just as a past-shoveling bath was beginning to induce the delightfully virtuous slumber that can come so easily after the first snow shoveling of winter, who tweaked them awake again by reminding them that the snow-storm was a text-book instance of the power-outage type of storm and WE WERE NOT PREPARED. So then the Monsters gathered candles and flashlights and filled water jugs and a thermos so as not to face the crowning disaster of a power-failure morning with no coffee. And who suggested they settle to dinner early (the first dinner at home in days!) so that all the quesadillas but one were cooked before the power finally did go out?
And it was also the Animals who entertained them during their candle-light dinner and cribbage game with silly songs and stories so that they laughed and laughed even though they were worried and tired! It was a restless night for all of us, and I'm heading back to BBL to suggest to the Monsters that they just keep sleeping as long as they can this morning. P.S. to Poetikat from Goat: We have much to say to you. We shall return.
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Oh, our dear friends in BBL! We are so dismayed to hear of your unfortunate circumstances. We are so glad that the Animals were there to give you such good advice regarding the shovelling, the preparing for the storm and the perspicacity to get those quesadillas cooked up early!
ReplyDeleteYou are in our prayers for as long as it takes to remedy this near-catastrophe. (Thank heavens you learned about the toxic nature of the vent before something truly dreadful befell all of you!)
We were most relieved to hear that you were able to make merry despite the situation. We often find a good game and fun music is most uplifting too.
We await your communication (in good time).
Keep warm and safe!
Your concerned friends of the Hyggehus
Dear Poetikat,
ReplyDeletethank you so much for keeping us in your prayers! Big Bed Land is spiritually a very diverse place. As is our household in general, with Monster E. a convert to Catholicism three years ago, and Monster J. not feeling a connection to any organized religion (I try to tell him that Catholicism is quite delightfully disorganized, but this is not what he means.)
Diversity begins at home, that's how I feel about it. What we all share in BBL is the strongly held basic conviction that each and every individual merits respect. (I would call this a sacred conviction; to John it seems to come naturally.)
Some of us in BBl pray and some don't but we all welcome being in the prayers of others, so thanks again. I am keeping you in my prayers too.
Such an adventure!Isn't it strange that it takes the rare power outage to force us to enjoy such fundamental pleasures as candles and cribbage. Or, perhaps you and John are wiser than we and you regularly play cribbage by candlelight?
ReplyDeleteDear Margot,
ReplyDeleteno, not wiser, not hardly! In fact I was really shocked the first time a power failure came and I was kind of annoyed instead of delighted - this was three years ago or so. It made me sad and I realized I had turned a corner of some kind. But when I start ranting about it and saying to John that we should live without elecricity that we should live in caves or tents or trees or culverts - he reminds me quite mildly that I probably wouldn't really like that for very long...