Wednesday, November 25, 2015

November 25 – “Um, we have an issue …”

It was turkey frying day around the Vaughan house yesterday.  Nathan and Cailyn got here shortly after I got the oil started heating up.  Nathan was here as a resident fire fighter to see that we didn’t  burn the house down (not to mention he did all the  heavy lifting of the turkeys).  Cailyn came to be an apprentice for Chris.  Their job was to make the pies for the Thanksgiving meal.  By the way, Cailyn has come up with yet another nickname for Chris – Nans.  Has a ring to it, I guess.

Wish I could say the day went by completely without incident.  For the most part it did.  Except maybe for the fire.  That would count as relatively unexpected, wouldn’t it?  That and the fryers not cooperating on keeping heat levels consistent.  We had to check levels at least every ten or fifteen minutes and readjust settings.  We even had to finish off the last few turkeys by baking the for a while.  The outside was perfect.  They just didn’t get quite done deep inside.  I think it is finally time for some new fryers.  These have served their time well. 

What’s that?  You want to hear about the fire?  Well … here’s the thing.  One of the things Chris insists on is that we put a layer of newspapers under the fryers to catch the residue of grease that inevitably spills over.  It helps prevent massive staining of the patio bricks.  Done it every year.  No incidents as yet.  We should have known something was different about this day when the first omen occurred.  As Nathan was slowly lowering the first turkey, Chris ready to snap a memorial photo, the steam started rising.  Not an unusual occurrence.  But he had forgotten to slip on his firefighter glove (he gave me one of his old ones for just this purpose).  I grabbed the pot lid and made a Captain America shield to protect him, but Captain America needed some work.  Didn’t do much shielding.  As I ran for the glove, Nathan dropped the turkey pan from his other hand (Not sure why he did that, now that I think about it.  It’s not like he was going to grab the grease).  Fortunately, the camera was on still photo and not video or we might have had an internet viral sensation.  It all worked out with no one the worse for wear.  (Easy for me to say, right?).  And he never forgot the glove again.  But it was a portent of things to come.

We got the fires regulated and retired to the house for our five hours of lifting, dipping, waiting, carving, wrapping, washing, rinsing, repeating.  It was a great day for turkey frying, by the way.  Partly cloudy, so it was really cool.  But at some point during one of our extended waiting periods, the wind picked up.  Not hurricane force or anything close, by any means.  Just noticeably picked up.  I went outside to make yet another check of the fryers’ temperature regulators.  And what should greet me but … a fire.  Right under one of the fryer frames the newspapers had blown upward into the flames and caught the blaze.  It wasn’t a big fire, but it was clearly flaming and rapidly engulfing the remaining newspaper.  I went into jaded homeowner mode.  I watched the fire burn for a second or two before I reported, “Um, we have an issue out here.”  Nathan was there in a second.  Together we approached the fire site.  I started stomping the fire out.  After all, I had on some old Nikes and blue jeans.  Perfectly protected, right?  For some reason Nathan walked right past the blazing inferno, however.  Come on, fire fighter.  Can I get a little help here?  That’s when I realized that he was heading over to turn off the propane tank.  Oh yeah.  Forgot about that.  That’s why he makes the big fire fighter bucks and I’m just the “unthinking” homeowner.  In my defense, I did get the fire put out.  And we did get all ten turkeys fried.  And the house didn’t burn down.  And we are both still alive.  Lots to be thankful for on Thursday.

James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”


Father, thank you for your protection in the turkey frying fray yesterday.  Amen.

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