Page 29 - Demo

Kendallville Mental School23photos, gave our backgrounds, talked about true love, quoted a few lines from Gilbran%u2019s The Prophet, and how much we were alike. The reporter was fascinated by some of our possessions, such as my hand-carved wooden tiki god, the coffin-turned-into-a-stereo, and the big round plastic chair I%u2019d built in college. Afterwards, we became minor celebrities, and everyone in town recognized us.%u2022%u2022%u2022%u2022%u2022As the days grew colder that Fall, the heating system in our duplex ran more often, and we began to notice a strong chemical-like odor whenever we walked in the door. It smelled somewhat like a carpet store, but was stronger and more biting. We asked the landlord about it and he assured us it wasn%u2019t anything to worry about %u2014 it was just the new building materials airing out. But it burned our eyes and, as winter progressed, we got into the habit of opening the windows for an hour or so to air the place out whenever we came home. The odor never did go away, but airing made it less potent, and we tended not to notice it after we were indoors for a while. It seemed to us that the new building materials should have aired out long ago, but that strange odor continued to linger. So we started leaving the windows cracked open all the time, even had a window fan running for a couple of hours a day. With the extra, continuous fresh air, the odor was finally somewhat less pungent, but it never did dissipate completely.At Christmas time, Lynn and I decided to escape the strange odor and Indiana%u2019s cold, snowy weather, and do some basking in Florida. We decided on a leisurely 9-day trip, with no itinerary, no reservations. When school let out on Friday, we took care of a few odds and ends, then headed south in Lynn%u2019s Nova. That night, we slept in the car at a Tennessee rest area. It was packed with college students, some trying to sleep, others partying. By morning, we were cold, stiff, and tired. Our first touristy stop was the not-so-world-famous Wonder Cave in Tennessee. Lynn spotted the hand-painted plywood sign, sitting crooked on a hillside, with the single word %u201cCAVE,%u201d and an arrow pointing the way. Except for basements, Lynn had never been