HUNT: Of road bumps and collisions

In response to Tim Hunt's column of Feb. 6, my smoke detector has a life of its own. Apparently it does not appreciate my cooking. It activates itself when I cook a pork roast or tri tips in the frying pan. Its displeasure manifests itself in a snarky, sustained shrill tone one quarter step above A# or two octaves above middle C. The timbre is like a soprano gargling with sewer sludge.

A good whack with a broom handle usually works but from time to time it does heavily syncopated rhythmic staccatos that remind me of Tower of Power on LSD or Snoop Dogg. It went off one time at 2:30 a.m. for no reason and decided to serenade me with a blended chromatic alteration between A## and F#. If John Cage was correct that a composition should evoke emotion, it accomplished its objective. I pulled it off its carriage and threw it into the wall. It snarled back at me with a wimpy beep, this time a perfect octave below the standard quarter step above A#.

Hunt's article was a delight to read. My wife and I have been married 32 years and have experienced road bumps and some head-on collisions. Our secret is working through these challenges, rather than throwing the towel in. We have both realized the end result is greater than the sum of its parts.

RICK NAIL

Hayden Lake