Question: Why did the small glass Pyrex container spontaneously explode in my sink?
Answer: No, I am not kidding. 

At 5pm yesterday, I was sitting at the peninsula counter in my kitchen when a very loud smashing sound broke the silence, violent in its suddenness. It was thunderous. It came from the kitchen sink. Before sliding off my bar stool, I did a quick assessment to verify that I was alone in the kitchen, which was unnecessary, as I knew that I was. Not only that, but I was facing the sink; I would’ve seen anyone who’d have come along. The cats were snoozing in the living room. Kyle was in his office, working. Mystified, I slid away from the counter and went over to investigate.

In the kitchen sink, I found that the small, square glass Pyrex container I’d set in there hours earlier had exploded. All. By. Itself.

The sink was full of broken glass. There were splinters, shards, and pieces big enough to grab with tongs. Those larger, intact pieces were patterned with shatter cells. Now, tempered/safety glass has RULES in the case that it breaks. One rule is that the glass will break into crumbly, dull little cubes. Right? Am I right? We’ve all seen those little cubes in parking lots, like pebbles on the ground. As in, safety glass car windows smashed by thieves.

Here’s another RULE of exploding tempered/safety glass that this piece of Pyrex did not follow: heat stress/temperature stress would be a likely culprit. That particular Pyrex container had never been subjected to extreme heat, or to extreme temperature changes. It hadn’t gone through repeated cycles of heating and cooling, because I didn’t use it for heating food. I’d used it for storage, or for preparing small quantities of recipes. The last thing it held was the chickpea (“tuna”) salad that I’d prepared in it, and it never made its way into the refrigerator, as I’d eaten all of the salad in one sitting that same day.

Such an occurrence as glassware spontaneously exploding is extremely rare, from what I read. It’s so rare, I naturally went online in search of theories. These are the two that make sense to me:

1). Good luck on the horizon. “Breaking glass is often seen as an omen of good luck. It’s true that some say broken mirrors are bad luck, but not all broken glass is a bad omen. Broken glass is often a sign of release or freedom, and likewise often signifies good things coming your way. In fact, in Pakistani tradition, a glass accidentally breaking in your house is a definite sign of your luck taking a turn for the better.”

2). Supernatural activity. “Someone is speaking to you from the afterlife. Some say that breaking glass is a sign of spiritual activity somewhere nearby, or that someone is trying to communicate with you from the afterlife. The spirit may be attracted to your own energy, or may be trying to tell you to release negative energy.”

It’s worth pointing out that two very dear people in my life passed away at around this time last year. They were both metaphysically oriented, spiritual mentors of mine. One of them was my biological father, who died exactly one year and one week from the event of the exploding glass. He died on February 13, 2023. The other was a fatherly friend (in his 70’s, like bio-Dad) to whom I’d grown spiritually close over the decades that I’d known him. He died on February 20, 2023. They passed away one week apart from each other, and the glass spontaneously exploded one week before the date of the first death. February 7, February 13, and February 20th. The glass exploded in my presence, only, in the sink that I was facing as I sat at the counter.

Now, I know that Nicked Sulphide Inclusions are a thing, but as I’d said, this Pyrex piece didn’t follow the rules. Is it so outlandish that I speculate friendly paranormal activity?

In any event, no one got hurt in the explosion. The sink is deep and large, and it contained most of the debris, though we did later find a few shards on the counter behind it. It’s a mystery, but I’m not worried about it. I’m heartened to think that a dear one may have reached out to me through the veil around the anniversary of his death.

Carry on, 2024. Carry on.