In many cultures, crickets are thought to be harbingers of good luck, future prosperity and protection. It seems that much lore has been attached to the chirpy critters since the beginning of time. It was considered to be a happy day when a cricket was found in the home but...it would bring much misfortune if the cricket was killed. This thought led to many folks protecting their crickets against any danger even to the point of having cricket cages in their homes. Well, living on the Bayou sees many critters wanting to invade the house...crickets included. I am not squeamish about the critters that call the Bayou their home and can happily live side-by-side with the lot of them. Then came the invasion.
Early on Christmas morn, my oldest son and I were in the kitchen. I had fixed him a cup of coffee when I heard a strange sound. Uh, oh...that sounded like the batteries were dying in our smoke alarm. I tried to remember when we last changed them and continued talking with my son. Then...about 15 minutes later...another series of beeps...errr....chirps. The alarm was in the laundry room which is just off the kitchen. I peeped in there but the thing was quiet. Nary a sound came from the confernal thing so I headed back through the doorway to the kitchen to continue the conversation with my son while we waited on the others to rouse from bed or arrive from their homes. Soon...the goofy thing chimed again! Alrighty then...out to the back deck it went. It was driving me crazy! We would have to depend on the other alarms that were playing nicely until I could find the proper batteries for this one. After a bit...I heard the same sounds in other rooms. Geez! Those batteries must all be dying! I spent a good bit of Christmas morning on the search for fire alarms and batteries! I was thankful once everyone was ready to open gifts! Yay! Let Christmas fun begin!
After all the gifts were opened, My son, Mark, handed out three "special" gifts! One to each sibling and one to me! Eeek! I was excited...short lived glee but...excited! I opened the package to find a puzzle box...you know...one of those nigh on impossible things to open?? Yep...one of those. I fiddled with the box, all the while, complaining of those dratted "alarms" that were still screaming. Aha! Step one was completed! I was quite proud of myself! There, scrunched in the tiny compartment, was a packet of herb seeds! But...there was more to open...so I continued to push, pull, twist and turn portions of the box until....another compartment and another packet of seeds! Alrighty, then! Mom is getting good at this! Beep..beep...shut-up, alarms!!! Mark informed me that there was one last compartment and reassured me that I was doing well. Another few twists of parts of the box and a few shoves revealed the last compartment...completed with a tiny portrait of Jiminy Cricket...you know...that "moral guide" from Pinocchio? Yeah, him...and he had a message..."Find Me!" Huh? I did! I just found you! Nope...the search had only begun.
Well...now it came to light that my smoke alarms were not so confernal after all. Their batteries were fine...the beeps were not coming from them. Mark had hidden some sort of noisemakers all over my house! The beeps (chirps) were Jiminy Crickets and I had to find them to make the noise stop. Arghh! What had my son done??? Beep..beep. The search was on while he sat at the kitchen table chopping vegetables for our Christmas dinner that I was supposed to help him make...and to top it off, he had a big smirk on his face. Ugh! Crickets! Why did they have to be electronic things that, as he informed me, would keep chirping for approximately 3 years...THREE YEARS! I searched, he smirked as the morning slipped by. Soon this became a family effort and everyone who was not involved in his sneaky scheme chipped in to help rid the house of Jiminy! Oh, was I happy when my son-in-law announced that he found a cricket on top of the huge china cabinet! Whew! One down....beep...beep. Ugh! About a half hour later, my sweet granddaughter squealed that she found one! I could do nothing but hug her! Oh, happy day! Beep..beep. Not another! Yep...another. About this time, both grandkids decided it was time to play with their Christmas gifts and several other of my "team" decided it was time to help their sibling who was now in the midst of preparing the dinner by himself. (Ha! Payback for sending his mom on this wild goose chase!) They cooked...I searched with my only ally...Darling Daughter, Elizabeth. Beep...beep. We were back in that laundry room! Now anyone who has ever been in the Little Bayou House can attest that searching any room would be a difficult task but that laundry room also doubles as a storage area for home canned goods, dehydrated herbs and most of my canning supplies. It also houses three large freezers so searching there would prove to be challenging but Elizabeth stuck with me and we found the elusive Jiminy! Wow! What an unexpected gift! It was so much fun to have the whole family involved and the search will be talked about for years to come. Not to mention...I am glad the fire alarms are still in good working order and were not chunked too far out the back door! Thanks, Mark!...Now, son...no more shirts for you for Christmas...it is payback time! Beep!
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