"Ignition..........................."

The weather here, as one might expect with February right around the corner, suddenly dropped into much lower temperatures this week. Up until now we’ve been able to stay quite warm with three strategically placed electric heaters and utilizing the oil furnace no more than ten minutes or so in the morning to jump-start the day. As so often happens in life, though, exactly when it might have been nice to gain a little more support from such source of heat, the guzzler down in the basement refused to cooperate, kicking in if the reset button was pushed, but the motor only running a few minutes and dying before shifting into second gear. The son-in-law usually works his magic when something like this happens, but is out of town at the moment. Thinking perhaps the batteries might once again be the problem, I tried replacing them right off the bat; and, when nothing happened, settled in to await Mark’s return. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Last night, in bed, it occurred to me that it might be good to repeat my original attempt to cure the problem, the truth being that batteries, around here, don’t always get thrown away after their demise and often find their way, somehow, into a mixture kept in a drawer. Two out. Two more in. Voila! We’re back in business! I’d blame it on old age, but I’ve been like this all my life. Whatever possessed Beth, not just to marry me, but to stick with me for nearly five decades, is beyond me……