Jul. 10--THERE ARE seven wonders of the world, and countless science mysteries, lost civilizations and unexplained artifacts.

I can't say I spend too much time wondering if Bigfoot is real or where to find the Bermuda Triangle. If I'm going to think about the Loch Ness monster, I prefer the explanation offered in the movie "The Water Horse" because, sometimes, fantasy is more fun.

But in the real world, we face things every day that defy explanation.

I encountered such a problem recently when I reached into my jewelry box.

I hang each locket and silver chain, one piece at a time, from little hooks. But when I reach for an accessory, I find a tangled mess of knots.

What went into the box in an organized fashion turns into spaghetti. You practically need a degree in decoding to get them apart.

How does that happen?

It's not like the box is turned on its side every few hours and shaken. It just sits there, but somehow -- unnaturally almost -- order turns into disorder.

Same thing happens with fishing equipment. Anchor ropes and rigs, along with anything that comes close to fishing line, becomes a giant jumbled mess when your back is turned.

There are so many snarls and snags, the best thing to do is throw it all away and start over.

Of course, Murphy's law -- if anything can go wrong, it will -- always seems to prevail. But the twist I find most mysterious is that things go wrong at the most inopportune times.

For instance, we held the fifth birthday party for my grandson, Tyler, at my house recently, and it was a great time. Despite weather forecasts that called for severe storms and hail -- and that's another mystery, how meteorologists can get it so wrong -- we had perfect weather.

The chefs cooked burgers, which someone set in a glass bowl, on a burner on the stove. Somehow, the stove chose that particular moment to act up.

The dial to the burner in question was turned to "Off," but heat clearly was coming from the burner. By the time any of us noticed, it was too late.

We set the bowl of burgers on the table, on top of a hot pad. A few moments later, the bowl shattered.

All the burgers and my nice piece of Pyrex ended up in the trash.

Thankfully, we had hot dogs and baked beans made with burger, so everyone got their fill of meat. But I couldn't help but wonder, after balloons were taken down and extra chairs folded and put away, about the odd circumstances that led to our mini explosion.

Guess I'll chalk it up to one of the mysteries of life.

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