When we woke up this  morning, there was a distinct chill in the air. For the past few days it’s been cold and rainy, last week’s spring preview long gone. Still, it shouldn’t have been this cold.

The dog and I headed downstairs for our morning routine. First stop: the thermostat. Sixty-six degrees. Not so bad, I thought. I pressed the button to fire up the furnace and take the chill out of the house. No response. I pushed it up another notch. Still no rumbling from the basement. Thinking that maybe the thermostat was just confused, (it was still pretty early!) I lowered the setting, then started raising it again. Silence.

I went back upstairs to tell my husband. He went to the basement to see what was going on. When he came back the furnace was still silent. “For some reason, the burner isn’t getting any oil. It’s not something I can fix.” We agree that I’ll go to work for the 7:45 meeting I can’t miss, then call the oil company.

So now I’m home, sitting in my sunny but chilly kitchen waiting for the repairman. Hopefully he’ll be here soon and the repair won’t be a major one. In the meantime, I’ve made some phone calls, paid a few bills, and had a second cup of coffee. Now I have some unexpected time to read and write. This cloud does have a silver lining!

Thank you to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, Beth, Kathleen, and Deb for this space for teachers and others to share their stories each Tuesday throughout the year and every day during the month of March. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.