Sparks

A couple of weeks ago, in a house on the street behind us, the family was cooking dinner.  They had chicken out on the grill on their patio.  They went inside to check on something, and when they came back out, there were flames shooting from their propane tank to their house.  They quickly got everyone out of the house and made sure they were safe.  The fire department came and put out the fire, but they will be out of their house for 4 months while they get a whole new roof, new carpet, and wall board (from the water).  In a matter of minutes their lives changed drastically.

I came way too close to that 15 minutes ago. 

I was blow drying my hair when my dryer stopped for a few seconds then started going again.  I thought the power had flickered.  It did it again and I pulled it away from hair to look at it.  And then it sparked.  From the base of the blow dryer, a huge orange spark shot out and I heard it sizzle. 

Now, if I had been smart, I would have just dropped it.  No, I threw it…into the hall…onto the carpet.  Fortunately, nothing happened.  I quickly unplugged it and sat and stared at it while smelling the acrid smell of burnt wires.  My kids saw the spark and were freaked out as well.  After I was sure nothing was going to happen, I took the hair dryer and quickly threw it away. 

What would I have done if the carpet had caught fire?  I am seriously freaked out, thinking about all the “what if’s".  But for today, I am so grateful that nothing happened. 

Now I just have to figure out what to do with my wet hair!