the red tablets......

ok, so do you remember the red tablets that came with the toothbrush that the public health nurse passed out at asembly.......when she double dared you to chew these tablets after you brushed.....so you could see just how pitifully you actually cleaned your teeth....and how much plaque remained?.......well......i am here to tell you that after a fire....every bit of grease/dirt/debris that graced your surfaces becomes soot-laden.....every cobweb you hadn't seen in the am becomes neon-lit by the time the ladder truck leaves......and so we have become obsessed......i should say I until my spouse actually speaks to me again..........the computer was saved.....curiously....not 8 foot from the flames......because the door between the bathroom and the hall was partially shut.....the contractor who put in the tub will be here at 9 to give us the estimate on the reconstruction..........that is what is nice about a small town.....what is not nice is that the fire department's run to our house WILL be news.....and i will have people ask me about this for months after the damage is repaired.......again....i am so lucky that the fire marshall is a lake-dweller....and that he stayed out here after his first wife died........and that he was on his way home or just gotten home when the call came and he just inched his way around the bend til he found our driveway........we are so lucky........when i called my mom...up in ohio...and told her of the events.....her unfortunate response was as follows......'you remember that at our wedding my veil caught on fire.....well....it took a year before i could really go to sleep without worrying that the house would burn down'...thanks mom.....i needed that..........