July 30, 2005
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N.Z. time
Saturday, July 30, 2005
8:09 a.m.
Well it’s Saturday morning in
I’ve had several Emails asking, how did our house get blown up?
Back in 1939 we had little gas heaters that would connect to the gas jet valves that were located in most all the rooms of the house. Usually when someone turned off the heater, they would shut it off using the wall valve. But there was also a shut off valve on the heater itself, and this particular time one of my aunties had turned off the heater using the stove valve. Since we only had one heater in the house it kept getting moved from room to room. So when this time it was moved, the wall valve was left wide open. The stove had been moved from the bathroom to the living room. The bathroom opened onto the back porch. So the gas filled up the bathroom and the back laundry room. The hot water heater was located in the laundry room, so, when the lighter than air gas, after filling both rooms, got down to the pilot light in the hot water heater,………… we had ignition, and “KABLAMO” the whole house was blown to smithereens. Wel,l it was still standing, but the roof had been lifted up and out, all the windows were blown out, some of the doors had been blown off their hinges. And the miracle of miracles was nobody got hurt.
My mom was in the living room, lying on the couch in her pyjamas, reading the Sunday funnies. My aunt Dolly and aunt Dorothy were in the kitchen doing kitchen stuff, and my grandmother and great grandmother were at the dining room table having breakfast. My great grandmother had her back toward the bedroom door and my grandmother was sitting with her back toward the kitchen door. She saw the whole thing blow up. My great grandmother had hair almost down to her knees; she always wore it rolled up in a big round bun right on the back of her head. My grandmother said she saw the bedroom door blown right off of its hinges, bounce off of Great’s big round hair bun, slamming her face down into her oatmeal as it flew right out through the dining room bay window. She saw my mom, the couch, funny papers and all, disappear through the living room windows. By the time Dolly and Dorothy come running out of the kitchen, it was all over.
Oh the laundry and the bathroom were on fire, but after finding everyone alive and unhurt, the fact that the house was on fire was really no big deal. By the time I got back from the park, the fire trucks and firemen were all over the street, I don’t even know if the ladies knew I’d been gone, which was OK with me, ‘cause I wasn’t supposed to go to the park alone. Yeah……… saved by the house blowing up. And people say there is no God.
That’s it for now
I’ll be back …… (Maybe)
BMcG
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