“Daniel! Daniel! Something’s on fire!”

That brought my husband running. By then I had a pitcher of water in hand, thought better of it and traded it for the kitchen fire extinguisher. And by then the flame was only three or four inches high.

A couple of pfffts of chemical and our little emergency was over.

“What is that thing? Is it plugged in?” I stared through the sliding glass door at the offending 9” long rectangle of char on the deck.

What is it?

“It’s a battery!” we said simultaneously.

Dan’s big quad-copter drone battery had made a popping sound while he was charging it earlier and he put it outside just to be safe.

Spontaneous combustion of lithium batteries is not unheard of. They can burn up a cell phone. They have been known to cause fires in the bellies of aircraft.

Nothing left but ash! A little burnt place on the table top.

There is a little burnt place on our butcher block top kitchen cart we use on the deck. No big deal. Had the cart combusted and burned a hole in our wood deck, we have insurance. We take precautions, keep fire extinguishers, set popping things outside…but stuff happens.

We have insurance on our cars in case of accident. We even have insurance on our business that covers us if Dan ever crashes through someone’s attic.

The one area where we aren’t covered is health insurance. It’s too stinkin’ expensive!

Last week we paid the piper. My doctor sent me to the ER when I visited him with a pain in my gut. It was “just diverticulitis,” a very painful infection in my colon, but he wanted me safe. Oh, did that hurt the pocket book!

What really hurt was spending four hours in the hospital thinking, What if I have to have surgery? What if they admit me? Will it wipe out our savings? So we came home and called our insurance agent. We had the paper work turned in within 24 hours.

Remembering how I made a wrong turn in the hospital corridor, trying to keep the gown closed over my behind as I made my way back to the room carrying a cup of pee, I’m still laughing.

I’m still learning life lessons: take precautions, set popping things outside, buy insurance! And try to pay attention when the nurse takes you to the toilet. You might be on your own when it comes to finding your way back.