It was warm enough in the house when I woke up, because Ray had built a fire the night before and gotten up before me to light it. After breakfast, we took a short walk. Ray headed to work. I spent some time on the computer and some time cooking. There is a job with the Council on Aging that I am interested in, so applied for that. The application was a PDF. I could fill it out on the computer, but had to print it before I emailed it, so I could sign everything. My printer needs ink and I have no paper. I managed to squeak out 4 pages, copied on the back of old letterhead. Then I used the old scanner (connected to Molli's old computer) to scan it, copied it from that computer to mine, and emailed it in, along with a cover letter and resume. Whew! I also printed, scanned and emailed the forms to reserve a place at the beach for 3 nights!

Leftover chicken and green beans with rice for lunch. I started a veggie stew for the Kenney Ridge potluck. Ray came home pretty early, not long after my Dad arrived. He was auditioning last night for a part in Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors, so he found the play on line and read it over. It is the silliest one, maybe, involving two sets of twins and lots of Shakespearean humor.

I made icebox cookies and put them in the fridge to cut and bake this morning. We fed the pigs, walking over and back. My Dad left. Ray and I drove to the community center for the potluck dinner. There were only about 8 of us, including Jeff, who is 2, I think, and his Dad, Dave. There was a barley dish and 3 veggie dishes and sushi (which I didn't sample). We had finished eating and were teaching Jeff to play cards when Heather rushed in, saying, "265, who's 265?" None of us could really understand what she meant, or remember which house it was when we figure out what she was asking. O.C. and Manita's house was burning down! The fire trucks had been called, the owners were out of the country, and we called the neighbors. Most people in the community rushed down there, but Ray and I went home and stayed out of the way. We were both upset and wandered around the house, aimlessly tidying. It's good that no one was hurt. I looked at all my "things"--furniture, cookbooks, clothes--and thought how sad I would be to lose them. But there is nothing I can do to protect them from something that happens when I am away. I am sure they have insurance. The other impulse I had was to get rid of stuff that I care about, so it would be safe. Someone told me their car exploded for no apparent reason. Bizarre. Their daughter came; she was thinking about not trying to get in touch with them, so they could enjoy the rest of their trip. I am not sure how I would feel about that.

Eventually, we calmed down enough to watch a couple TV shows and go to bed, and, surprisingly, to sleep.