The day dawned overcast and chilly and gave no indication of what would happen weatherwise.  Because Don and Julie Peddy had announced that they’d be leaving early, I set the alarm for 6:30 and managed to win the race to the main cabin – but not by much.  I’d just gotten the coffee made and was settling down to write this tome when the two travelers burst in, apparently ready to leave without saying goodbye to anyone. 

They didn’t make it.  “T” and Cy arrived a few minutes later, and after hugs all around, the five of us became three.

Within a few minutes, the phone rang.  There was a house fire at the end of Thompson Road and the road to Magnetawan was closed.  Don wasn’t sure if his GPS was trustworthy enough to route his to Burke’s Falls via Midlothian, and “T” assured him that, yes, Garmin Gretta knew exactly what she was talking about.  Crisis averted.

Naturally, I had to go see what this fire was all about, so I drove to the end of the Thompson, parked the car, and walked about 100 feet north on the Nippissing Road (the main road through town – Route 520, I believe – before coming to the roadblock and seeing the house.  More specifically, what was left of the house.

A very young-looking fireman who was manning the roadblock told me that they guessed the fire had started at about 3 in the morning.  It was sort of weird, because the guy who lived in the house sold eggs, and I’d mentioned this fact to Cy on Sunday when she said she needed eggs (we didn’t buy them from the guy – maybe that’s what pushed him over the edge, causing him to burn his house down…).

“T” later heard rumors that the guy’s cat had woken him up, most likely saving his life.  Gotta love cats.

We’d planned to take the recyclables and garbage to the dump during the morning, but the road remained closed until mid-afternoon.  That being the case, most of the morning and early afternoon was devoted to reading, playing on the computers,  making a list of the things that I’d have to take care of after Cy and “T” have departed, and occasionally falling into the lake, as the weather was luching back and forth between beautifully sunny and warm to chilly, rainy and somewhat depressing.

Eventually, “T” and I did make it to the dump.  We stopped at the store on the way home and picked up some chicken for Cy, who turned them into “Dirty Bird,” a Day family favorite.  Basically, you pour salt, pepper, garlic, butter and brown sugar on the chicken and then bake it.  Good stuff.

After dinner, the Cy and “T” did some more reading while I took pictures of the sunset and stars over the lake.  A game of Hearts was suggested, but not acted upon, and I wandered off to bed at around 10:00.

TWD