SOMETHING'S CHIRPING .... IS IT A BIRD, A PLANE ....IT'S THE SMOKE DETECTOR!!!!!!!!!!

I shot straight up in bed ..... had been
snoozing serenely,
grabbed for my glasses on the nightstand.....
looked at the small electric clock
on the nightstand........
and twisted the lightbulb in the bedside lamp
(switch broke a long time ago)
CLOCK WAS OFF
LIGHT WAS OFF
ELECTRICITY HAD GONE OFF.
but...
a sharp, persistant chirping
grabbed my attention.
OH NO! IT WAS THE DREADED
SMOKE DETECTOR!
The house was dark as I got out of bed and
like a blind bat, felt my way to the
smoke detector....
and still the chirping so it was easy to follow the noise...

"Eldon!!! Where are you when I need you?"

Okay, I got that out of my system, so now what?
I've never fiddled with a smoke detector.
I've repaired the ends of faucets,
watering systems, 
drained the fish pond,
gates and fences ....
I know there's more.

What to do ... what to do?
Oh yeah, and did I tell you that I left my ladder
at work? Well, that added to my dilemna.

When addressing a problem
the best
guide to a solution is
K.I.S.S.
Keep  It   Simple  Stupid!
I found some earplugs,
closed the bedroom door,
jumped back into bed,
pulled the covers over my head,
and placed a small pillow
atop my exposed ear....
and went soundly back to sleep.

"Morning has broken like the first morning ...."
and the chirping greeted me again.
This time daylight was streaming into the room
and after "sleeping on the problem"
it somehow didn't seem like such a
horrible dilemna as it did at 0-dark -hundred.

It's reassuring to get through small dilemnas
such as "chirping smoke detectors"
and realize I can fix things.

A few months after Eldon died
I experienced my first "fix-it" problem.
Burst of panic then
"Okay, girl, you got through losing him
how could ANYTHING
be more difficult than that?

I remind myself of that strength whenever I have a "something-is broken -or -needs-fixing- panic attack"
Everything pales in comparison.
Puts "it" right into
perspective.