Alotta Monkey Business

Smoking!

Written for "Invalid Item" , prompt: Great American Smokeout - stop smoking

One blite (blog write) closer to being caught up; written for Nov. 16

I know, the Great American Smokeout is a day set aside for folks to kick the habit and stop smoking. However, I don't agree with this idea. Why? Well, say I want to quit smoking, so I think, "I'll quit on Nov. 16 during the Great American Smokeout." It sounds great, but what if I decide that in December or January? That means I'll be smoking for another ten or eleven months. No, in my opinion, everyday is the right day to quit smoking, so don't put it off for any reason. If you smoke annd seriously want to quit, then do it right away.

But, that's not what I wanted to write about. I was looking through the prompts for Nov. 16 looking for something to write about to get one blite closer to being caught up. I seen the Smokeout Day and realized that I had gotten smoked out the 16^th.

Was it coincidence? I think not.

What happened was this, I was steaming baby carrots for dinner, and while I waited I thought I would log into WdC for a bit. I do this quite often, and it's never a problem. But on this particular day, the house was suddenly full of a terrible smelling smoke. I closed my laptop and rushed into the kitchen to see smoke billowing from the top of the stove. I grabbed an oven mit and slid the smoking steamer off the burner. Then, I grabbed a knife and cut my way through the smoke to the window. (I didn't actually grab a knife, but the smoke was thick enough I think I could have cut it.)

Anyway, I opened the window and fresh cold air began blowing in. It was windy and gusting right into the kitchen, which helped to move the smoke. The problem was, it was blowing through the entire house. I rushed to the bedrooms and closed the doors so the smoke wouldn't fill them, and then headed for the back door. My thoughts were twofold. One, by opening the back door, the smoke would blow out of the house quicker, and two, I couldn't breath because the smoke was so thick.

My plan worked, I cleared the house of smoke rather quickly, and I was able to breath again. Once able to return in, I checked the steamer and sure enough, the juices from the carrots had filled the bottom of the kettle, but the water had boiled off and in it's place was a thick layer of carbonized carrot juice.

I didn't understand what had caused this until I read that it was the Great American Smokeout and I had participated in getting smoked out. (Not remembering to turn the heat down from high may have also been a factor.)

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"Reading soothes the soul, writing sets it free." T.J.