I thought I smelled something 'unusual' that fateful day. Something like roasting hot dogs. Or leaves burning...
But...I didn't think too much about it at that time. After all, I was like, 9 years old. My sister and I had other things to do that day. So we continued with our playing...and I forgot about the smell.
Until later that night...
BUM BUM BUMMMMMMMM!
More about that in a minute.
Flash forward to present day: You wanna know something? My husband is quite the firestarter. He fancies himself after Charles Ingalls, I think. He could probably win on Survivor, I swear! Because when he builds a fire...it's big. It's hot. And it will not go out.
Unlike the namby-pamby fires I'm liable to try and build in the fireplace. I just don't seem to have the knack for it. I have to constantly feed my fire. Move the logs around. Keep the flame glowing. Sometimes I get really frustrated. In fact, I am so lousy at building a fire, that once I just threw in the towel.
AND BOY HOWDY!!! THAT THING BURNED FOR THREE DAYS!
(well...it WAS a beach towel, after all.)
Back to Rankin.
I was in bed. And awakened to the sound of banging on our front door. There were some guys driving past our house in the country who noticed something a 'little unusual'. So they stopped to tell us about it.
It was our barn. Our huge ol' barn where Dad kept a bunch of his farming equipment and boat and other items...was on fire!
It was amazing! It was (actually!) a blazing! We had fire departments from all sorts of towns and surrounding counties working on putting that inferno out. And while no one was seriously injured...one fireman was actually blown out of his boots when the gas tank exploded.
And that...that was quite a sight to see...
They're still not exactly sure what started the fire. Some speculation was on the old hay in the hay mow. That it oxidized or spontaneously combusted or something.
I didn't care. What I knew was that our barn was gone. Our boat was gone. And things on the farm would never look or be quite the same...
Flash forward back to present day: Steve brought home three truckloads of wood the other day. You see, they're building a Walgreen's in Mahomet, and cleared out a bunch of brush and trees...and let Steve take as much of the wood as he wanted. Nice.
We use our fireplace quite a bit in the winter. We are trying to save some energy money that way. Our furnace is not the most economical item in our home, we know...plus, we like the looks of the crackling fire in the fireplace on a chilly evening.
And the smell of S'mores. Yummmmmm.
Our fireplace helps keep us warm and cozy. It's a good fire to have around.
The barn fire, on the other hand, only destroyed. It didn't seem to care about us or our things.
Fire....is dangerous.
(well there's a completely Captain Obvious moment for you! Go ahead, I'll say it with you: DUH, C!!)
Fire is dangerous because it causes change.
A boat that was there, in the barn one day...became, in a matter of minutes...nothing but a chunk of metal. And a small chunk at that.
A fireplace fire warmed cold feet, dried out damp gloves...and gave us a roasted marshmallow to eat.
Fires can feed us...or feed upon us.
What's your fire look like, my friends? Are you on fire for something? Is there a passionate flame burning inside you for a purpose?
"A light shines in the darkness...but the darkness has not understood it..."
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