Three's Company

Any poker player will tell you that if deuces are good, treys are better.  I was able to parlay a pair of guests into trips yesterday when Camille accepted an invitation for leftovers.  When I clean house, I want my money's worth!  I've had enough company in the last three days to last for a little while, at least until the dust settles, as it were, and I feel the need to dust again.

What I did not need yesterday was a pair of scares.  My house being on the top of the hill, if there is a smell of smoke in the air, I either get a call or see a car coming up the drive.  "Where's the fire?"  Cam called yesterday afternoon and Bess and I went out to see what we could see.  Sure enough, there were two columns of smoke rising and blending over to the west.  Helicopters and tanker planes were circling overhead and the afternoon breeze had kicked up and was blowing in our direction.  Oh crum, here we go again.  Both Camille and I headed for our computers.  There are a couple of websites set up by locals and we found out during the Sand fire that those sites are almost the only way to get any accurate information in an emergency.  Cam and I are our own hotline, staying on the phone while each of us checks one of the two sites and comparing notes on what we find, trying to locate where the fires are.  Turned out that they were way too close for comfort, on our side of the highway and a little to the south.  One very tech savvy guy posted aerial maps with the fires pinpointed and if the firefighters in the air and on the ground hadn't done such an excellent job (again), we would have been in real trouble here.  There were a few anxious hours before the all clear notice came.  I did say that, if I'm to be the neighborhood lookout for fires, I want a Smokey the Bear hat to make it official.

Cam had unexpected company and so she and Honey came later in the evening.  Dinner was reheated Russian pie and I'd gone ahead and eaten earlier.  We rehashed the day's events while she ate.  (The pie got another rave review.)  It wasn't until Cam was leaving and I turned on the porch light that we realized she hadn't latched the front screen door.  Ralph had made several appearances, flirting with Honey as he does.  He often sits by the front door, looking out on a world in which he'd never set foot.  I started searching the house upstairs and down, Cam and I calling his name.  Celeste poked her head out of the closet, but no Ralph.  I had such a sinking feeling and was just about ready to punch the panic button when he ran up on the porch.  I opened the door and he raced in, as glad to be inside as I was to see him.

Three of a kind and a pair makes a full house, but I'll settle for just the three any day.  Don't need any more scares, thank you.