well, i had defrosted some brats n needed to put some hickory smoke on them, but it was super windy. i couldn't get the smoker going.
finally i made my big mistake. i had these charcoal lighter things
that light easy.
i cut one in half set it atop the pellets n lit it.
when i came back, ten minutes later smoke was billowing out instead of the thin blue smoke you want.
i opened the door to look n WHOOSH. everything was on fire. floor, door walls burning super hot.
well, i didn't need those eyebrows anyway.
time for panic, because the smoker is 5' from the house but only 2' from my wooden arbor n fence.
i had to think hard. see, i grew up with a standard woodsgal panic, where i just start running in a straight line til i hit something, then get up n run in a new direction til the panic was over. this worked fine for me because usually i was in a panic due to being lost in the woods. in the woods you don't have to run far before ramming a tree. i could often bounce off 5 trees without going more than 15 yards.
very efficient.
but, the first time i panicked out on the plains was when a snake said hello by rattling his tail.
i did my panic, but after running for hours i realised there was nothing to hit on the plains, so i just laid down to die.
i must have run 50 yards.
this time, i fell back on the modified stationary panic, where i run in place, arms waving while screaming.
5 minutes of this n i was calm enow to take care of things.
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susie