Spring Time

It's that time of year again.

Although it's great to have that extra hour of daylight in the evenings . . .

. . . setting the clocks ahead always takes some getting used to.

Unless you're a fluffy cat who can spend all day snoozing. Spenser doesn't feel the effects of losing an hour of sleep so he's appointed himself the supervisor of the time pieces. He's bossy but precise. When I was a child I thought Daylight Saving Time meant putting "time" in a safe deposit box and storing it in a bank vault. That's probably not something I should admit to, which is possibly due to sleep deprivation. I've also been calling them "safety" deposit boxes until I looked it up just now. 

  

The batteries in the smoke detectors get changed when the analog clocks get reset.  Remembering to do that is mostly thanks to the multitude of people harping about it in the news but also because I (probably) was awakened out of a deep sleep by them once when my house was on fire. Since the possessed kitchen has been acting up again lately, why take chances?

Several years ago, around 4:00 am, I had a dream about being with friends in a smoky club where Aerosmith was playing live. We were seated at a table located about half way between the stage and the bar. The band took a break and left the stage, heading for a drink. As the musicians were approaching us I announced to my friends that the smoke was really getting to me and I would have to leave. Just then, as Steven Tyler was passing by our table, he looked directly at me and said,

"Then you'd better go!" 

I woke up to discover I was sleeping on my stomach (which I never do), face down in my pillow and the house was full of smoke. I roused His Madness and my son, Andy and we ran downstairs and applied the extinguisher to the blaze just as the sunroom curtains turned into to a wall of fire. Unfortunately the house was so full of smoke we were forced to call the Fire Department. Soon half a dozen very excited, twenty somethings showed up led by a cranky old man. The firemen added to an already huge mess by clomping around in their muddy boots and breaking a few windows. The smoke was removed fairly quickly but they left without actually putting out the fire. Fortunately, we noticed their oversight right away and poured a bucket of water on the smoldering floor joists.

The scary part is that those ear splitting sounds emitted from your smoke detectors aren't always loud enough to wake up a person who is deeply asleep, at 4:00 am, with their face in their pillow. I don't recall hearing it actually going off even though it was blasting away just ten feet from my head. Now I'm wondering if we should to add a few more! On a lighter note, even though I'm more of a metal head, I really don't believe Aerosmith's music sounds at all similar to a smoke alarm. Though I should probably write to Steven Tyler to say thank you and avoid mentioning any connection between his band and loud noises made by household safety appliances.

Finally, Burt, Ivy, His Madness and I would like to wish Kristin,

the newest member of our family, a very Happy Birthday!

Thanks so much or stopping by. I'm not sure how this turned into a public safety announcement but just to be on the safe side, please don't forget to change the batteries in your smoke detectors!