Six years ago, Monday, a catastrophic event was averted at my home. A fire. With just a slight chill in the air that evening, I decided I needed to wear gloves as I left home to meet my friend Toni Kniola in Vevay. The red Mickey Mouse gloves I chose to wear were in a metal tub with several other pair on top of my spare electric stove and just inside the back door. The apartment sized stove was only used maybe once or twice a year for biscuits or desserts. In order to retrieve the gloves, I had to lean over the stove and in doing so I apparently leaned into and somehow turned or twisted one of the knobs just enough to turn it on. After dinner at Roxano’s we ventured next door to the American Legion for some ‘adult beverages.’ Great evening with a super friend at least until I got home. During my remodeling, I had moved a previously exterior glass paneled door inside using it to separate the original home from my addition. Seeing that door as I arrived home, I immediately knew I had a problem: the glass panels in the door were no longer transparent instead dense smoke cast an eerie blackness. As I ventured into the house, I encountered more smoke but No active fire, a lot of damage to my kitchen and utility room but my dogs were unharmed. One little guy slept through the entire ordeal which left him covered with soot but only on one side of his body. So many factors affected the outcome of the fire that night. The exterior door that I’d moved inside fit so tightly that it helped smother the fire and extinguish it before it got any worse. The fact that I even had the door closed was an oddity and not my routine. The dogs, all small breed Japanese Chin, were in beds or under furniture and thusly not victim to smoke inhalation. The window above the stove cracked from the heat but did not shatter. Shattering the glass would have of course allowed air in and oxygen to feed the fire. I am truly blessed that it didn’t. My attitude towards material possessions changed that night: before the fire, my house was full of ‘treasures’ and keepsakes — my own private castle. Within two days, it was bare. Every stitch of my clothing was gone along with furniture, food, appliances and all contents thereof — removed by the insurance company to be cleaned or destroyed. And strangers inside my home and invading my space became an everyday, all day experience. Lesson learned: “stuff” can be replaced and its not all that important anyway.
Tuesday, I ventured to Indy for an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon but for once, I had company! Marie Cole hitched a ride up to see her mother, Edith. Having her along made it so much more enjoyable — we laughed and jabbered the whole trip. She and Edith enjoyed their time together and it worked out great for us all. My doctor was pleased with my progress from shoulder surgery, but I am still working on the patience part of rehabilitation.
Another fun time was had Saturday with Carla Burt at the Trace Adkins concert — she picked out great seats and I was like a teenager mesmerized by the Beatles. Although I do not remember any of the Beatles looking that good in skinny jeans and cowboy boots!
Prayer list: the family of Lauren Rose, Aletha and Owen Heaton, John Campbell, Sharon and Bill Levell, Bruce Hutcherson, Irvin and Eva Fette, Freda and Harry Walker, Eddie Trinkle, Sue Bear, Sharon Ward, Sharon Copeland, Mike, Barbara DeNoon, Adam Rose, Mickie and Jake Rader, Joyce Earles, Dale and Eric Simon, Gayle Rayles, Jerry South and Red HOT Hatters Mary Christiani, Marie Cole, Patty Chase, Lura Riga, June Lack, Sandy Dawson and Sondra Stave.
Thank you’s to: Sandy Dawson and Lois McKay for assisting with emergency housekeeping needs; Joyce Johnson for contributing the best ever cake recipe; Jade Cooney and Carla Burt for transportation this week; Robin Lawson and Sondra Stave for helping me finalize the sale of my cherished RV (sniff) and all of my Red HOT Hatters for their moral support.
The Traveling Voting Center will be in Patriot at the Town Hall located 352 3rd Street on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 30th and 31st. On Tuesday, the voting center will be open from 8 a.m. until noon. On Wednesday which is Halloween, the hours will be 2-6 p.m. If you want to make it a family night, bring the kids to Patriot for our Trunk or Treat at the Intersection of Highways 156 and 250 running from 6-9 p.m. Parking will be available at the Town Lot there.
The third annual Trunk or Treat will be Wednesday, October 31st, Halloween night at the intersection of Highways 156 and 250 beginning at 6 p.m. and ending at 9 p.m. The Parking Lot at the 4-way light will be available for parking.
You may contact me several ways: by leaving a note of message inside the cat mailbox in front of 1995 Front Street in Patriot; or by calling my home at (812) 594-2281; or dropping me a note at P.O. Box #01, Patriot, Indiana, 47038. In addition, contact Kay E. Cook on Facebook or online at PatriotNews1995@gmail.com. If you have anything for me to include in this article, please send it to me. Information can be received any day of the week but normally my deadline is Sunday at noon for that week’s issue of the paper. Any news received later will appear in the following week’s article. If you need something in a particular issue, please be sure and give it to me early.