Friday, May 11, 2007

The Night The Bookcase Fell On Missy

One April morning in 1995, at about 5 a.m., I was roused from a deep sleep by a resounding THUMP CRASH TUMBLE rattle, rattle, ding. I staggered out of bed, naturally leaving my glasses behind, and headed in the direction this odd Reveille had come from, where I discovered that the brick and board bookshelves that normally live under the built in bookcase were tumbled on the floor, along with the books (my entire science fiction collection) that they had housed. With no idea as to what could have caused this, I decided that Missy must have tried to climb them and pulled them over. How I thought a five pound cat could pull over bookshelves that had never been even the smallest bit wobbly (I've been building brick and board wonders since 1960 and I have never had one be anything but stable) I don't know. Well, it was 5 a.m. I was without the ability to see or think clearly.


Anyway, I decided, still in this sleep deprived fog, that since I couldn't see or hear Missy, her little body must be buried under the books. In digging for her, I had piled books on the worktable and was now carrying them into the bedroom and piling them on my dresser, when Missy came quietly back in the open (and now screen-free) window. Not being anybody's fool, she had decided that some large animal, possibly the mother of the bear cub she had been making friends with lately, had broken in and she went out. I suppose that she saw me up and about, even carrying armloads of books, and decided it was safe to return.

Knowing that Missy had not pulled the shelves over, I went out on the living room roof looking for what had happened. It turned out that a boulder the size of a basketball had rolled down the hillside, smacking into the wall right behind the shelves, leaving this evidence on the outside. On the inside, as you can see in the top photo, the plaster had cracked and one of the electrical face plates had been knocked across the room. Additionally, as you see in the middle picture, a couple of boards and a few bricks had been broken. Ah, good old kinetic energy.

3 comments:

J said...

I'm glad Missy wasn't under there!

Ms. Mamma said...

Whew! Now THAT is wild life.

Ginnie said...

When I have strange noises in my house I am always disappointed to find a perfectly logical explanation...it takes all the fun out of it !