A kitchen fire

So lucky for the Pope family that Thanksgiving was an off year, (meaning everyone was with their in laws for turkey day) because my mother started a fire in her kitchen the day before Thanksgiving creating this monstrosity.....

I am calling it the Matterhorn candle, but for only 100 dollars it can be yours and you can call it what ever the heck you like( I'll start the bidding . . .) , or better yet, my dad would probably pay you 50 dollars to get it out of his house. Art is subjective indeed . . . .

So while I was at home busy making Thanksgiving pies two of my children were at the cabin (aka my mom and dad's house) playing. Grandma was melting wax on the stove. She forgot about the wax while she was arguing with grandpa (probably about the candle). While the kids were watching a movie, they spotted the fire and almost immediately the heat set off the fire sprinkler in the kitchen. Screaming down the hall, they ran into grandma and grandpa's room, "Grandpa you better come see this!" to which Porter followed up with, "I'm out of here!" Grandma and grandpa heard nor smelled anything! They went to the kitchen to see water showering the whole kitchen and into the great room. The fire was out, but they had no idea how to shut off the sprinkler. Porter then called me, "I want to come home now." With an inch of water everywhere, filling the cupboards and soaking the leather couches and Persian rugs in the great room, they finally figured out how to shut it off, and they called a clean up crew immediately. Without waiting for the crew to come, we went to Ruby River for dinner.

So the moral of the story is, fire sprinklers save houses and save lives, and don't attempt the Matterhorn candle, you can have my mom's.