Sweepin' Up.......

A few nights back, around 1:15 AM, Cindy was having trouble sleeping and got up to do some reading.  I briefly awoke, and within about a minute I was again half asleep.  It was then that an explosion rocked our house...BOOOM!!!

I thought, in my decreased mental function, that the blast came from within the house...that Cindy had somehow blown up the living room.

Before I could react, she came rushing into the bedroom, very excited, saying that a gun blast had gone off in our back yard.  She said she heard a woman scream as the blast occurred.

She called 911.  The cops came out and prowled around in the dark and, of course, could find nothing at all. 

I expected to find a body of a woman in our back yard the next morning, but nada, zip, nuthin'.  A mystery.

Then, yesterday, I thought I smelled that distinctive odor of natural gas in the master bedroom.  Cindy smelled it, too.  We had never experienced that odor before in this home, so we did what we had to do---called the KUB gas company that provides service to our area.  We called the emergency number; but, of course there was no answer.  Can you believe that?  An emergency number that has no answer.  Well, I guess nothing surprises me any more.

OK---called 911 again.  They sent the fire department out to investigate.  They brought two trucks and four firemen.  Sirens blaring, air horns honking...they were not subtle in their approach.

Firemen Discuss the Situation in Our Front Yard

The firemen entered our home at 9:00 PM and stayed 10 minutes inside before going outside and exploring around the house for gas leaks.  They detected no gas leaks.  Nada, zip, nuthin'.

They advised us to go get a gas/carbon monoxide detector (we have multiple smoke detectors in place) immediately.

We went to Wal-Mart last night at 10:00 and purchased one.  So far, although we continue to smell a faint odor of natural gas, the detector has had nothing to say on the matter.  We have not detected this smell before yesterday, so we cannot imagine why we smell it now while the detector does not.  Sigh.

TOMORROW---Gatlinburg, The Crown Jewel of the Great Smoky Mountains