Casino night - I'm the one in the back with the fake cigarette.Year: 1985
Place: hometown Iowa on the farm
Characters: me
It's 1985 and I'm a freshmen in college. It's a brisk fall day and I got home from classes early in the afternoon. I commute to school as it's cheaper and I only live 20 minutes away...
No one is home but I see that some garbage has piled up. Out in the country, you either take the garbage to the dump yourself, (which is ALWAYS fun because Dad always stops for ice cream afterwards!) or you burn it. There was a rusty metal burn barrel towards the back of our back yard that we used to burn up anything that WILL burn. Dad would empty out the ashes sometimes out in the field, other times letting them heap up a bit.
I thought I would help out and burn some trash. We usually did help out with it, but this time, as I mentioned, I was home alone.
So I started a fire in the barrel with some old papers and trash and started feeding the flames. I felt in control and very helpful... until... the wind picked up and blew a tiny scrap of burning paper up onto the weedy hill behind the barrel. AH!
I climbed up the little cliff quickly and stomped it out. But too late.. Another scrap blew past me and made several areas on the hill erupt into tiny flames. I ran down to the patio on the other side of the house and grabbed a bucket and the hose, turning it on before I drug it around to the back yard. The burn barrel had burned down enough now that no other bits of garbage were flying out of it now. Whew!
By this time tho, the flames had eaten the dead, dying grasses and weeds in too many areas to count. It reminded me of the prairie fires from Little House on the Prairie. The tiny flames licked towards the road, which ordinarily would've been good... however the propane tank was in the way. AND the hose would not reach. Not even if I held my thumb over part of the end to make it spray into a high arc above. The wind whipped the water in every direction but the way I needed it to go. I filled the bucket part way and ran up the hill, dousing what I could and running back for more, stomping out flames as I ran.
All the thoughts of what could happen if the flames got to the propane tank ran through my head. Of course it would blow up immediately... I'd seen enough action movies to know that! And the fire would run thru the pipes into the house, blowing it up too. The outside explosion would hit the outside of the house and and and...
Ok, quit thinking about it and get this fire out!
It took several trips of bucket refilling and lots of stomping, but finally the flames were all out and the propane tank was safe.
Just as I stomped out the last remnants of my big mistake, Dad drove into the driveway. I don't remember getting in trouble so much as a stern talking to about not burning trash on a windy day.
Did you ever notice that when the kids ask you to tell stories about when you were little, the ones where you did something wrong and got in trouble are their favorites?
14 comments:
Heya! Stopping by from SITS. You've got a great story-telling ability, I could really see the fire! And I love how you described putting your thumb over the hose... amazing how that's almost an instinctive thing, right?
Have an Extraordinary Day!
Yes. Those are the ones they beg to hear over and over. Throw in the grandparents' version and you'll never live it down.
My kids love to hear about those stories from the past and the ones that where they did *bad* things when they were little and don't remember.
OMG, you had me totally freaking out. Soooooo glad that ended well! Whew!!
And yes, I know what you mean about stories! LOL
Oh wow! So glad that ended well. What a story! You are right, my kids love my bad teenage girl stories too, like the time I got in trouble for going out on a winter evening ride on my horse and not coming home until I was half frozen and it was waaaay after dark. My mom was furious with me, but she took care of my horse so I could go inside and get warmed up before I had to hear the big lecture!
I'm so glad there wasn't any serious fire/fallout from this! Too funny. I can totally picture it, and it's exactly the sort of thing that would have happened to me as well....
Funny story now (just like your kids I suppose) but I could imagine you were scared out of your mind.
Happy SITS Day.
LisaDay
PS-I can't believe, but I can, there is a speech generator. Too funny.
I have a fire story, too, but not living on a farm mine involved a pop tart, a toaster and a pile of wet dish clothes. And a raspy voice for the rest of the week.
Thanks for sharing :)
That is scary, scary, scary!!! I started a fire one time on the stove, but nothing compared to that! And to think, you were just being helpful!
OMG! Thank goodness you got the fire out!! :)
OH my GOSH I would have been terrified! I HATE fire. I started one on really dry grass at my in-laws motel the first 4th of July we were married...sparklers really do start things on fire!!
Burning on a windy day is never a good idea...Lesson learned. ;)
LOL True! I think it shocks them to know we were onceas naughty as they are!
Glad there was a happy ending!
Here from SITS.
That reminds me of life here. Whenever it gets dry people here start burning stuff and it always freaks me out. I'm glad you got it all put out without it causing any damage.
Happy SITS Day!
Cheers :-)
- CoconutPalmDesigns
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