That's what I asked Adam when I called him from our driveway tonight!! He got home before the boys and I did and when I pulled the truck into the driveway, I saw a pile of something black on the carport and a small flame under it. I thought, for some reason, that he'd decided to burn something and did so on the carport. Not that he's ever done that before, but that's what was in my mind since it was a neat little pile and none of the house was burning. He answered, "What???" Then I realized he hadn't started the fire and I said, "Something's burning on the carport!!!" He got out the back door as quickly as I got out of the truck. It didn't take long to realize that the two burned piles lying there were the boys' backpacks they'd left there this afternoon as they ran off to play with a friend who'd come home from school with us. Then, my thoughts turned to why the backpacks were burned and I wondered if someone had purposely done it to be mean. Then, Adam looked up. That's when he realized that the carport light had caught on fire. Apparently, when he came home tonight, he flipped the light switch on so that we'd have light when we got home. Since he was on his way in the door, he never realized that the light was dimmer than normal (I'll explain how I know that in a minute) because the light globe was full of bird nest. See, when I left for church tonight, I turned on the light and realized it was too dim and saw that the bird had returned and re-built his/her nest. I left the light off for fear of a fire. However, Adam was doing a good deed and turned the light on for us on his way in and never noticed that the nest was back. So, when we got home, the light had caught fire and the fire dropped onto the backpacks below. Well, the backpacks, recycling bin and baby swing. :( It must've burned pretty hot, too, because the plastic recycling bin is now a completely flat piece of plastic and the only way we knew that's what it was is the company's logo is still visible. The baby swing was sitting near the bin and the back support bar and leg were burned on it. The backpacks and everything in them are completely lost. That means the boys' binders that hold their homework, graded papers, notes to/from home and school, lunch money, etc. are completely burned. Along with two readers and at least one library book. But, it could have been worse. The light could have burned into the ceiling and spread through the attic very quickly. We're very blessed that it didn't. God was definitely watching over us this evening.
Here's where it all started, this is the light:
