mosses monday XII...

on tuesday:P

it was a cold, gray day in december. i had been downtown picking up a few new Christmas ornaments for our tree. i happened to notice a beautiful blown glass ball that i thought the mosses would enjoy, so i bought it, too.

after i left the store, i drove to the moss' home. the cold of the day was compounded by the brisk wind coming off the ohio river. i grabbed the box with the ornament inside, pulled my coat together, and hurried to the door. just a moment after ringing the doorbell, i was greeted by mrs. moss... "come in here, dani," she welcomed me.

as she was taking my coat, i notice a most peculiar smell... or should i say, "odor"?

something smelled very offensive!

i handed her the beautifully wrapped Christmas ornament, and we walked into the den where mr. moss was drinking his afternoon toddy. mrs. moss started to put the package under the tree. "oh, mrs. moss, it is not really a Christmas gift," i continued, "it's for you to open, now."

mrs. moss with box in hand sat down on the couch. "george, look.
dani has brought us a surprise."

mr. moss looked over at me from his leather chair, "well, bless your heart, dani..."

i interrupted, "it's just a little something. i saw it, and it reminded me of you. i hope you will like it."

mrs. moss opened the package. she said she loved the bauble!!!

"look, george, isn't it beautiful," mrs. moss held it under the light so that he could see.

"it is really pretty, mommie," he said affectionately. "you shouldn't have, dani." i smiled; i thought they would like the ornament.

mrs. moss walked over to the tree to hang the ornament. the odor i had noticed when i came into the house had become more and more noticeable. but, i didn't know whether to say anything to them. how do you tell someone that their house...
stinks?

but, it was awful!

finally, i said to the mosses, "do you smell anything odd?"

they looked at one another, shrugged, and almost in unison said they did not.

"do you smell something, dani?" mr. moss asked. "what do you smell?"

"honestly, i smell a strong odor of gas... you don't think you have a leak do you?" i asked.
we all three grabbed our coats and walked out of the house and around to where the gas line entered the house.
"everything looks ok, here," mr. moss said scratching his head.

"do you think we should call the gas department?"
"i have my cell phone in the car." i offered.

"maybe it's the gas logs?" mr. moss was thinking aloud. "mommie, do you think we may have forgotten to turn off the gas last night?"

"i'm sure i turned it off, george," she replied.

"dani, come with me, and we will check," mrs. moss said to me as she took my hand leading me back into the house. "george is afraid of the gas logs..."

within the minute, there we stood in front of the fireplace. before i could utter a word, mrs. moss took one of those long fireplace matches and struck the side of the box!

"OH, MY DEAR, GOD!!!" i thought to myself.

the match caught fire... first strike. there was no explosion;
we were still standing there in one piece, respectively!!!

"THANK YOU, GOD!!!" i thought to myself.

she turned on the gas and lit the logs.
"well, it's not that???"

mrs. moss leaned out the port door and told mr. moss that the odor was not coming from the logs and that it was okay for him to come back into the house.

when he re-entered, he looked at me and said, "you know, after being outside, i smell something, too." he looked over at mrs. moss and told her to go ahead and give the gas department a call.

when i left, the gas department was en route.

an hour or so later, mrs. moss rang to say that the smell was natural gas coming from the drain in their basement... they had called to have someone come to repair it.

WHEW!!! IT WAS NOT THE EXPLOSIVE KIND OF GAS!!!

how funny we two, 'steel magnolias' (aka crazy ladies), were standing in the house lighting a match while mr. moss waited patiently in the driveway for us to give him the "all's clear" to return!
~@~ 
(to be continued...)

love and blessings,
dani xx

ps you will find earlier entries in ascending order on my side bar entitled, "our love story":)