It was Christmas morning and the ground was blanketed in a fresh layer of new snow. Kathy left for church early as she was singing in the choir and they always warmed up before church. Since I would be leaving for church at the regular time, I was instructed to put the ham in the oven and to turn the oven on.

Just before I got ready to leave, I put the ham, all 18 pounds of it, in the oven and set the temperature for 350. I then proceeded upstairs to brush my teeth. By the time that I had finished brushing my teeth, the girls had their coats on and were waiting by the back door. Since the stove was located by the back door, I glanced at it as I went out the door.

After church, Kathy arrived home about 30 seconds before I did. When I entered the kitchen from the garage, Kathy was waiting for me at the door. Visibly upset, she asked why I had left the oven door open. Perplexed I asked what she meant by that. She said that when she walked into the kitchen, she found the oven to be wide open. I reassured her that when I left the house, the oven door was closed. Besides, I would have to be both stupid and blind to leave the oven door open. I hung up my coat and proceeded upstairs to use the bathroom.

When I got to the bathroom, I encountered the next big mystery. The bathroom door was closed. Going back downstairs, a quick head count confirmed that all of the members of the family were present and that none of them were in the bathroom. So, why was the bathroom door closed? After all, I was the last person to use the bathroom and I certainly didn’t shut the door.

Ah, oven door open, bathroom door closed. Was there someone else in the bathroom? Maybe the person who opened the oven. Next question, do we open the door or do we call the police to report an intruder? After some thought, we decided that anyone stupid enough to hid in the bathroom was probably not going to be a serious threat so we opened the door. There was no one inside. The bathroom window was closed and locked so that was not an escape route. The mystery grows.

Rachel went into her room and noted that the gerbil cage had been moved. Suzanne went downstairs into the basement and noted that the door to the laundry room was closed. We never shut the door to the laundry room as that is where we keep the litter box.

A check of the premises revealed that all of the windows and doors were locked. A survey of the fresh snow yield no new tracks. And the only tire tracks in the driveway matched our cars.

Perhaps the cats had somehow opened the oven. But, a quick check of the spring tension on the door proved it highly unlikely. Besides, how would they close both the bathroom and laundry room doors? An earth quake had been suggested but anything strong enough to open that oven would have sent dishes flying from the cupboards.

To this day, we still do not have a good explanation.