our house, is a very, very fine house, with two cats in the yard.....

In the beginning, some thirty three years ago.....

Wednesday morning started out as any other morning of the week. The heirloom tea pot was steeping an aromatic blend of chamomile and mint on the kitchen counter. Cold blustery winds were blowing in what promised to be the grand daddy of all snowstorms. I was pulling my favorite tea cup and saucer from the horribly worn steel kitchen cabinet, when I heard the clank of the mailbox lid, letting me know that the mail had arrived on time. As it did six days a week, for the past month since Jim and I had moved in. I set my cup and saucer next to the tea pot and padded of in slippered feet to retrieve the mail. Even though Jim and I had just moved into this new home, it was a very familiar home. Jim had lived in this house for several years before our marriage, with his mom, Grace. Grace had died several months earlier. We hadn't intended on moving in, let alone purchasing the home from the estate, but being newlyweds of two years, it seemed the most practical thing to do, and we hate moving.

The winds nearly whipped the screen door from my hands as I lifted the lid to the mailbox and reached in pulling out a single envelope. The name on the envelope was not familiar to me. Samuela Hooper, hmmmm, with the our address below her name. I tossed the envelope in the buffet and went back to the kitchen to remove the tea bags from my pot of tea. A cold draft blew across my neck and shoulders as I walked into the kitchen, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. A shiver went through my body as I reached for the tea pot. Just before my hand grasped the handle, the tea pot began to slide down the counter. I snatched my hand back and watched as it turned in a complete circle before coming to rest inches from the kitchen sink. It was then that I realized that I must have spilled water on the counter while filling the pot. Pulling a towel from drawer, I picked up the pot to wipe the counter, only to find they the counter was completely dry.

When I told Jim about the tea pot incident, he filled me in on the "other" fun things that happened when he and his mom bought this house. We are the third owners of this home. I hope to die in this house, as all the previous owners did. :)