caerula's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- close calls So, apparently we all could have died Wednesday night. All the Blues, I mean. And I suppose that's true of any night really, but this is a more specific instance of the truism. The moral of the story, which I am going to give you first, is this: buy a carbon monoxide detector. And make sure it's working. Even if your furnace is less than two years old and it's extremely unlikely that there is anything wrong with it. Because you just never know. I spent Wednesday night sitting in my car with Blue, YMB, three cats, and a dog � none of whom were happy about the situation � waiting for the gas guy to come see if we had a leak, because there was a funky, burning candles smell in the house and I started feeling yucky and then I lost consciousness. Briefly, but still. We got everyone out of the house. We theorized that it couldn't be CO because it smelled, so we called the gas company. The gas guy found nothing. This morning the furnace guy found a crack somewhere � I'm vague, Blue just called and told me it was fixed, and I don't have the details yet. Fortunately our furnace is still under warranty. And whatever was broken, it caused the smell because of something to do with the filter. Again, fuzzy. But the smell quite possibly saved our lives. Because I feel tired and woozy a lot of the time, and I probably wouldn't have thought it was anything in particular. And Blue had a headache, but again that's nothing new. And YMB was outside playing until 7 pm, so he didn't feel any effects at all. A CO detector was one of those things on our to-do list that we just hadn't gotten around to getting yet. We got one first thing Thursday morning. And you should too. I slept six hours extra yesterday, slept for most of the day. I feel much better today, and very thankful. I am going to pray for George Bush's heart to change, so that he begins to want to be a part of the human family. He really doesn't want to gather at the table with God's other children, because he might have to sit with someone he hates. Iraqi soldiers, or someone like me. I really, really know this feeling. It is something he and I have in common. But I don't think Bush believes that all people deserve to be fed, and I do. Pretty much. He believes in serving the poor, if they are the deserving poor. But I am going to pray for him to be OK today, to feel loved, and to be fed, because I think that if you want to change the way you feel about someone, you have to change the way you treat them. I'm going to try to treat him better. Maybe I will send him a little something; socks perhaps, or felt pens. Or balloons. He's family. I hate this, because he is a dangerous member of the family, like a Klansman. To me, his policies deal death and destruction, and maybe I can't exactly forgive him right now, in the classical sense, of canceling my resentment and judgment. But I can at least acknowledge that he gets to eat, too. I would not let him starve, and I will sit next to him, although it will be a little like that old Woody Allen line that someday, the lion shall lie down with the lamb, although the lamb is not going to get any sleep. That's the best I can do right now. Maybe at some point, later, briefly, I will feel a flicker of something more. Let me get back to you on this. Anne Lamott, writing in Salon. Paperbacks to spare? I know you have some. Here's the address for an Air Force (my dad's branch of service) hospital requesting pretty much anything for their patients to read: Another good place to send books, including kids books: And more address to send donations of books can be found by clicking the "Books for Soldiers" link below. I'd been thinking that active military personnel would get a lot more use out of the paperbacks boxed up in my closet than I would, but they aren't allowing "any soldier" mailings any more, and I don't know anyone specifically to direct things to. This looks like a decent alternative. 10:25 a.m. - April 04, 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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