I almost blew up my house and killed my cats!

I almost blew up my house and killed my cats!

I decided I would only walk today, I didn't feel like running, and I wanted some split-pea soup when I got back from my 5k journey around the block. So, I put a pot of water on and a few minutes later I poured a bag of split peas into the boiling inferno.

I turned the fire on low, on low it usually takes about 90 minutes or so for it to cook and get to that consistency I like, soupy. As I got ready to head out, I thought I should turn the fire up, just a little, I think it was a 2 or maybe 3 on the knob. Anyway, I put the top on it and went on to my daily walk.

About a kilometer into my walk I started thinking, what if that pot overflowed and the water started to spill out, that would put the fire out and the house would fill with gas and first, kill my cats and then would blow up when I entered the house. That thought stayed with me for a few more minutes and then dissipated as trudged onward.          

Sixty-two minutes later, as I sat on the ground, at my garage door, I decided to go into the house and rest for a bit, shower and then make my lunch. As soon as I entered the house, the smell of gas bellowed through my nose. I ran to the stove and shut off the gas and then went to the closest cat, Tom, to see if he was okay. I grabbed him and he slowly turned his head, looked up at me and said, meow.

I then went over to Jerry and touched his head; he seemed to be okay, too. To a small degree, I am glad left the back door wall opened. I went around the house and turned on all of the fans and the bathroom exhaust fans. A few moments later, I remembered to turn on the blower, on the furnace, which also is an exhaust fan. I thought of it first, but I thought that when I turn it on it might ignite the gas…it didn’t.

When I am at home, I have always, turn the fire on the stove to low when I am cooking any type of beans, and I love split-pea soup, (I never liked split-pea soup at all when I was younger). I do not know why I turned it up a notch today. I am going to have to be a lot more careful from now on. I would hate for something like the house burning down and losing my cats!