Thanks, Tiffany, for the title. I haven't posted in awhile, but there are some things that bear recording.
So, I'm hanging out in the office this morning, balancing the checkbook (quick, somebody check on Bob, he's probably having a heart attack), and I smell a funny smell.
What's the smell? What's the smell? What's the smell?
One of the children, who shall remain nameless (not that that will prevent any of you from guessing) had just brought in a grub to try to feed to our newly captive frogs (for Caleb's reptile and amphibian merit badge), and he said it smelled like a skunk. Was that the smell?
And then quick as a flash, pictures in my head: melty, melty, melty. Smoky, smoky, smoky. The reptile lamp. On the floor.
Bad, bad, bad. Very, very bad.
Now if you know me well, you know that I don't ordinarily think this fast. On my own it would have taken me an hour to figure out the source of the smell. Because who would think the carpet was melting in one of our bedrooms because someone put a burning and bare light bulb that's designed to simulate the sun down on the floor? And left it there!! (The top of the aquarium housing 6 frogs, which are almost as bad as snakes, was also left open, but in light of the circumstances, this is really a minor detail.)
Anyhow, bear in mind that our house is built on a full basement, so there is no concrete slab beneath this carpet. And it burned all the way through the padding.
Disaster averted. Narrowly.
I know some people will say that it was luck or instinct or whatever. I call it the guidance of the Holy Ghost. It was information that came not from my own brain, but from Someone waaaaaaaaay smarter and faster than me.
I am counting my blessings this morning. The scriptures and the prophets say "Remember, remember" a lot, and this is one of the things I'll be remembering.
