Brooke Saves the Day....and the House!

Last night was a hot dogs and baked beens night. So, Crystal asks me to grill the hot dogs. Well, we have only a few tiny trees in the backyard, and so any leaves that blow around in the fall are usually ignored...and they were. So, I light the grill. I go inside while the grill warms up and a few minutes go by then I hear Brooke yelling "Daddy! Daddy!" And, as any parent knows, kids often cry "wolf"....so I kind of ignored her. After a few seconds (i'm not sure how long, but saying "seconds" makes me look better) I walk out to the back yard to see why she's yelling for me. That's when I see that the ground....and neglected leaves under the grill....were on fire. Yep, my leaves were burning under the grill. Now, there's not a lot of leaves, but about 3 feet away there was a much larger pile of (neglected) leaves right next to the house. The grill is only about a foot from the house and all these leaves. So, smoke is rising, ground is burning and Crystal's yelling "What do you want me to do?" I heard her, I did, but I was on a mission. I drop my new fancy Hot Dog Tongs (not thongs) and run for the hose. Now, here's where I'll allow myself some creative liberties. Seeing that I'm a fly fisherman, I know a thing or two about controling long lines....or hoses in this case. So, with the skill of a fly fisherman I "cast" the hose off the holder and crank the water on! I run back to the grill and start dousing the flames! It worked, the fire stopped, and after a bit more water, just to be sure, we were back to life as normal.

Crystal and I both made sure we told Brooke what a great job she did by yelling for us. Crystal said that next time she can yell "FIRE" as loud as she can, instead of just "Daddy!"

Seriously, it wasn't a huge deal, but only because Brooke said something. If she had not been out there playing, it would have only taken a minute or two before we would have had the house on fire and my fly fishing skills would have been good for nothing except providing us a few meals while we camp in the woods until the house is rebuilt.

Thanks Brooke! Great job!