My Cousin, urr, Neighbor Vinny
Nov. 28th, 2007 09:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
captainsblogVinnie, in this case, is a she. Vinceniza or somesuch. She lives in the house most directly across the street from us, and is one of the several still-kicking (-it-old-school) widows that represent a still-goodly percentage of the homeowners on this block. By trade, she's a realtor; by faith, a Catholic. I once wrote a moving but no-longer-extant piece about how things were when she, and her still-living husband, kept up a friendship with our neighbors to the immediate west, which seemed more focused on maintaining property values than it did on being actual friends.
That long-ago story, though, is not the point of this post.
After more than 13 years here, we've never gone much beyond smile-and-wave with Vinnie, but we're much closer to, and incredibly fond of, our widowed neighbors on either side. It was Betty, the aforementioned gentlewoman farmer to our west, who reported this tale about Vinnie's recent woes.
Over the weekend, she talked to Betty and mentioned that she had a constant headache. Also, that plants inside her house were suddenly flowering, but that the leaves were falling off them.
Some alert soul noticed the distinct symptoms of carbon monoxide buildup, and insisted that she get thee to a HVAC-ery. She did, a day or so ago. Her ancient furnace was condemned on the spot and is now being replaced.
Vinnie spent Sunday socializing with friends- fortunately for her, away from home. The technicians told her that, had she been home all day Sunday, the CO buildup might well have killed her. Oh, and a stray spark might have exploded her entire home to kingdom come (and damaged who knows how many of the adjacent ones).
We've had our moments of stress over the holidays, and more are sure to come. But our Blessing Count is still a positive in the plus-minus column right now, and is likely to stay there come hell or high furnace output.
So, please. For me. Count the blessings you've been given by Whoever, Ifever, you believe parcels such things out. And for Christmas's or Kwanzaa's sake, make sure you have a CO detector in your home.
That long-ago story, though, is not the point of this post.
After more than 13 years here, we've never gone much beyond smile-and-wave with Vinnie, but we're much closer to, and incredibly fond of, our widowed neighbors on either side. It was Betty, the aforementioned gentlewoman farmer to our west, who reported this tale about Vinnie's recent woes.
Over the weekend, she talked to Betty and mentioned that she had a constant headache. Also, that plants inside her house were suddenly flowering, but that the leaves were falling off them.
Some alert soul noticed the distinct symptoms of carbon monoxide buildup, and insisted that she get thee to a HVAC-ery. She did, a day or so ago. Her ancient furnace was condemned on the spot and is now being replaced.
Vinnie spent Sunday socializing with friends- fortunately for her, away from home. The technicians told her that, had she been home all day Sunday, the CO buildup might well have killed her. Oh, and a stray spark might have exploded her entire home to kingdom come (and damaged who knows how many of the adjacent ones).
We've had our moments of stress over the holidays, and more are sure to come. But our Blessing Count is still a positive in the plus-minus column right now, and is likely to stay there come hell or high furnace output.
So, please. For me. Count the blessings you've been given by Whoever, Ifever, you believe parcels such things out. And for Christmas's or Kwanzaa's sake, make sure you have a CO detector in your home.
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Date: 2007-11-29 03:51 pm (UTC)