What’s That Sound?

Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers for more slices of life.

Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers for more slices of life.

Let’s start with the lesson one can learn from my recent experience: when you hear a sound that doesn’t make sense, get up and investigate! Let’s backup and I will explain what let me to these profound words of wisdom.

Dinner was over, dishes loaded into the dishwasher. Button pushed to start the cleaning process. I moved to the couch, sort of listening to the news while I read and commented on slices. Ding! My husband got a text from a neighbor asking him to to come over for a project he was working on. Absorbed in my slicing world, I was vaguely aware of my husband’s actions.

Have you ever used one of these?

Have you ever used one of these?

Before leaving, he wanted to get the green tea brewing. He uses a Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Pot. Water poured in – check, tea bags in basket – check, button pushed to begin the process – check. He heads out the door to meet with the neighbor. I am still semi-conscious of the world around me because I am reading and responding.

Huh-cluk, huh-cluk, this sound is annoying me, distracting me from my reading. Huh-cluk, huh-cluk, I wonder, what is in the dishwasher making that horrible noise? Finally, I get up to investigate.

IMG_1982 (1)

This tenuous connection is so important.

OMG! It’s not coming from the dishwasher! It’s the iced tea pot! The counter is one giant puddle of tea. The carafe wasn’t quite pushed into position. Quickly I grabbed towels to mop up the tea. Fortunately, it had not cascaded over the side and down the cabinets. Three hand towels later it was mopped up. I looked at the carafe, there was only an inch of tea in it. There should have been about eight inches of tea.

The tea crawled along the counter, past the narrow ledge by the sink. and on to the open space heading for the paper towels.

The tea crawled along the counter, past the narrow ledge by the sink. and on to the open space heading for the paper towels.

What to do? Pour more water in, add a couple new tea bags, align the carafe to the hot pot, then push the start button.

So, like I said in the beginning, when you hear a sound that doesn’t make sense with your surroundings, investigate! If I had done that, there wouldn’t have been a puddle of tea snaking its way down the cabinet.