Story time: Liquefying

Summertime! It’s a 10 letter word but it could easily be only three because it signifies FUN. The hot hazy days demand that one can laze around, seek ways to stay cool or consume refreshments. Summer entertainment can be either planned or spontaneous. However, some occurrences can catch one off guard.

Summer of 2014 is one to remember. My family and I flew to Connecticut, USA for a family friend's wedding. It was a long weekend celebration. The days before and after the fabulous wedding, had varied events filled with: swimming, sailing, great music, delicious foods and even sightseeing in the Big Apple. Most activities involved being close to water; this was appreciated due to the hot weather.

After the wedding festivities, we rented an “American sized” SUV and embarked on a 3 ½ weeks road trip. This was very exciting for my children because of the built-in video players. The other highlights of our trip were: visiting the monuments of Washington DC, horseback riding in Virginia, enjoying the beaches of the Outer Banks, NC and the sunset and walks on the boulevard in Hollywood, Florida.

Our activities and the memories created will be unforgettable, along with the script of the movie, Mary Poppins. My children watched it at least 30 times during our travels. This number could be an understatement. We can also reminisce and now laugh about buying ice-cream for my daughter, who was only 7 years old at the time. She insisted on having it in a cone not a cup. In no time at all - she was crying. As the steamy hot air was at least 32 degrees Celsius - it melted the ice cream faster than she could lick it. She was not happy about the rapid thawing and dripping of her delicious sweet treat. In addition, her pride was hurt because we warned her about what could happen. She was only a little girl who wanted an ice cream cone. Now she knew how rapidly the summer heat could cause things to change.

source
After our quintessential American summer vacation, we flew back home. Despite a glorious time abroad, it is always nice to return home - to return to the comfort of the familiar. When we arrived home and opened our front door, there was a smell which was very unfamiliar and extremely unwelcoming. My first thought was that rats had invaded our home and died horrible deaths. Immediately my children were saying,
“Eeew, gross, stinky,” almost in unison.

They were hesitant to enter the house but I assured them that whatever it was, most certainly was dead already and we would figure it out.

The smell was overwhelming. What was it?

We entered the kitchen and were immediately sure the culprit(s) was there. The stench was unbearable. I felt sick to my stomach. We opened the doors and windows. My husband and I soon realised that there was no electricity in the house. The smell was coming from the refrigerator. We flipped the breaker switches but unplugged the refrigerator.

The contents of 2 freezer drawers had defrosted and was decomposes. The meats had morphed into something unrecognizable and it was now a horrendously stinky sludge.

We donned masks and gloves and immediately disposed the liquid mess down the toilet. The rest was placed in garbage bags and disposed of in outdoor garbage bins. This stench was unbearable. We aerated the house but that was not helping.

My husband and I got the children ready for bed and attended to the task at hand. We grabbed the cleaning supplies and cleaned the freezers. After several times with various cleaning agents – a rottened smell still lingered. I used lemon and eucalyptus scented cleaners, but to no avail. The smell was still apparent. I then tried bleach as a last resort. Thereafter, I retired for the night - feeling miserable that I could not relax on my first evening home after our lovely vacation.

We were disappointment the next morning, the freezer smelled like a strange dead animal drenched in bleach. A neighbor informed us that 2 days after we departed their was a power outage for 1 hour only. As we were not home - there was no way to know or to turn it back on. The contents of the freezer had almost 4 long weeks to rot and ferment.

The refrigerator had to go.

We immediately ordered a new one but it would take days before delivery. To mask and hopefully eliminate some additional smell, I doused the drawers and the rest of the refrigerator with baking soda. I taped the doors shut as opening and closing the refrigerator and freezer doors in search of food, is habitual and done automatically.

The stench had permeated the plastics of the freezer drawers and seemingly the entire refrigerator. There was no other solution - we had to throw it out. We were so happy when it was removed. Life could go back to normal.

This was a such an unusual situation. I had only once before experienced a power outage for which we were forewarned weeks before.

This was such a traumatic situation that now we consciously try to finish all food products, except condiments, before going on a vacation. Although we’ve now learnt to expect the unexpected, we often speak about this after every vacation. When we are about to open our front door, we still wonder if there will be any stinky surprises.