HooDoos in the House

The last thing -- the absolute last thing -- you want to hear as you drift off to sleep at night in your safe warm bed is a catastrophic crash and the tinkling of shattered glass.

I was not quite asleep at 11:00 one night recently when a terrible sudden smashing of glass petrified me. It was close by, in the bathroom. When I turned on the light and tentatively inched into the room I saw the remains of my stand mirror on the floor.

I have a lighted makeup mirror on a stand in the bathroom. I don't wear much makeup, but I need to see my face at times. The ceilings in our odd master bath are so high, and the room is long and narrow and lighting is a challenge.

We've upgraded bulbs and added lights but for any close task I needed something else. So I got a Simplehuman mirror that stands on the counter, lights up and has been a godsend for the little tasks that involve finessing an aging face into something the public could see.

That's what was on the floor, in pieces. Shards of glass and electronics and metal everywhere. It had fallen on the hard tile floor and was no more. It had been unplugged, standing free on the counter.

But here's the thing. This mirror is hefty and not small. It is sturdy and weighty, an expensive piece of equipment that is solid. I move it around a bit for better angles but it sits smack on the counter, never anywhere near the edge.

Who had moved it? Or pushed it over? Or tipped it? Something that large accidentally sitting too near the edge would be noticed right away if I had absentmindedly moved it there. And even if it was somehow near the edge, what had made it suddenly tip over at that time of night?

Clean up was a mess, involving sharp chunks and fine particles that needed a sticky lint roller to catch. Of course the bathroom is the one place you walk barefoot, so my feet will find whatever fine glass I missed.

It was midnight before I calmed down and got things to rights. No big catastrophe, just a broken mirror. Back to bed.

But I have been jittery ever since, wondering how this could have happened without some kind of . . . um, intervention. Windows were closed, shades drawn, no breeze. That mirror was solid and centered and something had to push it over. 

HooDoos in the house? I can't imagine. Trickster coyote? Maybe -- he creates mischief, but usually sly devilment, not smashing things. What on earth walked that piece of electronic equipment to the edge of the counter and pushed it over?

I'm very uneasy.