"Welcome To Eastford"

Where do I even begin to tell this story . . . (Warning, this will be a long story – so get comfy.) What an exciting day it’s been so far. It went something like this:

Company was scheduled to come over for breakfast at 8 am this morning. As usual, Karlo and I were more than ready. The house was spotless, the food preparation was done, I had the music going and Karlo started the wood stove so everything would be perfect when guests arrived. The time is now 7:50 am – 10 minutes to show time.

And what a show it was . . .

I was in the office getting the music going and when I walked out toward the kitchen, I caught the wiff of a funny smell. Right near the stone fireplace, I could swear I smelled a “burning marshmellow.” I alerted Karlo right away, but he dismissed me and my “way to sensitive nose.” Then I could swear I heard a strange crackling sound coming from the wood stove chimney that I never heard before. I was CONVINCED something was wrong and it wasn’t just my “pre-company” jitters. This time Karlo took me seriously and went out on the deck to look up at the chimney. It wasn’t good.

He came back in with a look on his face that I didn’t like one bit. He said “I don’t like the looks of the smoke coming out of the chimney.” What the heck does THAT mean exactly? Now I’m starting to panic. The crackling sound was getting worse and the smell more intense. Karlo decides that he must “remove” the fire from the stove. Oh Lord, how does one remove a raging fire?

Well, he opened the door, reached in and GRABBED the burning logs with nothing more than work gloves on. He threw them into the metal ash bucket near the stove. I’m standing there terrified as I watch the flames shooting up his arm and sparks flying all over our very wood house. I quickly open the door to the deck and out he goes. Meanwhile the door to the wood stove is wide open. There’s still plenty of fire left, smoke is filling the entire house, the fire alarms are blaring, and I have two greyhounds on the verge of a heart attack.

By the time Karlo gets back inside, smoke is starting to stream out of the stones of the fireplace wall. That was it, I was with the greyhounds clutching my heart. Karlo said it was time to call 911. This must be bad because Karlo never makes rational decisions like this. I called and they said somebody would be right over. The alarms are still blaring, all the doors are now open, the house is freezing, there is dust & black soot covering the counters and entire kitchen. Perfect. This is exactly what we planned for our big breakfast get-together.

So we are standing out front waiting for the fire truck. Instead, the first set of friends show, probably thinking, “How nice, they are waiting outside to greet us.” They quickly changed their mind when Karlo walks over the car and says, “Can you please move your cars to the next driveway to make room for the fire truck.” You KNOW what their first thought must have been . . . I can just hear them . . . “Why did we agree to a meal cooked by Paula?”






OK, enough drama . . . the firemen finally arrived: Two big red trucks and about a half dozen volunteer vehicles. I swear half the town was here. Could have been the biggest event in Eastford for awhile. We even met our neighbor across the street whom we have yet to catch a glimpse of. The house was full of guys in big coats, boots and funny hats. They were on the roof, at the stove, in our bedroom. They seemed to know what they were doing. They took care of everything and the last thing they said when they were leaving was , “Well, welcome to Eastford.” Not exactly the welcoming committee I had expected, but it was actually a very amusing and pleasant morning after they arrived.

Our second set of friends had to park on the street when they arrived because there was positively no room in our horse-shoe driveway and two big fire trucks in the back driveway. I told them that I had invited the whole town to the party. Of course these friends had to be co-workers so by tomorrow morning the entire company will know this story. Do you think we will EVER live it down?

I had to add this picture to show off the lawn. I guess Karlo is right. It's very important to make sure that EVERY leaf is immediately removed from your lawn. You never know when half to town is going to drop by unexpectedly for a visit!