The one where I almost burned a house down

I bought a fire pit years ago excited to use it in the fall months here in Nashville. There’s something pacifying about sitting around a fire, with or without s’mores. It’s about being outside. Very caveman-like, really.

Me start fire. Fire warm. Me sit.

cave person

I haven’t used the square metal contraption yet this year but with the cooler temps I’ve got it in the back of my mind, and it’ll be nice! I won’t try it for another week or so once I’m sure allergy season is over. Those dang ragweeds. They get me every time!

I also randomly thought of another experience I had with fire. This was early in high school. It was the night before the first day of school and I was just a bit behind completely hopeless on the summer reading list. There I laid in my bed, book open, lamp on, ready to speed read. It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep and dream of rainbows and puppies accidentally light the mattress on fire!

Yes, that’s right. I had a lamp on the bed and after I fell asleep it tipped over, the bulb flat down against the sheets. Imagine flames up the wall. A plastic wall clock melting. What in the world had I done??? I woke up and rushed into my parents bedroom (as any kid who has no clue what to do does, right?). Due to some heroic work from my parents and brother, the fire was doused out with a trash can’s worth of water.

Now as an adult and a homeowner, I have a better grasp of the gravity of that situation. THE WHOLE HOUSE COULD’VE BURNED DOWN!

Stupid summer reading lists.

Happy fall, y’all!

-Out of the Wilderness

An unexpectedly good run

I made a few goals (I had a list and everything!) to accomplish in a 2-day span recently. Stuff like haircut, shave, walk the dogs a couple of times, and so on and so forth. Well, I also listed a goal of running four miles, even if it was split into two miles per run. It would be two miles per run, let’s be honest. Day 1 came up with a goose egg so, oh gosh, can I do four on Day 2? Well, I buckled up my Garmin Forerunner 245 Music and hit the road.

Garmin Forerunner 245

Normally I run with fast music, somewhere in the 100 to 110 bpm range to help keep up a decent pace but today I was in the mood for worship music. You heard me correctly, worship music. With a bpm of [really slow] I listened to a few favorites but was really looking forward to one in particular. It’s called “The Blessing” and it’s by Kari Job and Cody Carnes.

Question: How far would you run to make sure you’re safe from a bear chasing you? One mile? Well then I ran far enough to be safe from four bears. That’s right, I actually did all four miles! I ran a long loop which usually ends at my house but when I got there, after two miles, and listening to that song, I had to keep going. My feet wouldn’t stop. So I did the loop again.

I may pay for it later with soreness but it was a pretty nice run. There were spotty showers which was actually refreshing. My watch tracked well and my bluetooth earbuds were up for the challenge.

I finished the run with a sweaty shirt, a face dripping from rain water, but feeling good! Are there certain songs that compel you to run faster, or farther? Do you imagine a bear chasing you? What motivates you to go the “extra mile”? Comment below, I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

-Out of the Wilderness

Family Matters: the episode where Steve Urkel became a Christian

There was an episode of this TGIF show that I still remember about Steve Urkel trying trying to join the church choir. Of course, the drama is that he’s not a good singer and gets ousted from the group but here’s the snippet when he walked to the front of the church to announce he had become a Christian.

This might sound cheesy but it still gives me goosebumps, decades later! This show aired in the 90s and I can’t help but think how society is reflected in sitcoms now. I don’t think this show would last long on TV in 2020. Of course, that’s true for a lot of the shows from that era. I know the style and popularity of shows changes over time, I mean just look at the “reality TV boom” in the early 2000s. But showing a specific episode about someone deciding to put their “hand in the hand of the man from Galilee” would be blasted in the media today. If it did happen in any show’s script, it would also include this person showing tolerance for gay people, or a woman’s choice, or any other area they were “closed-minded” about before. It just wouldn’t be the same as this heartwarming moment from Family Matters.

The episode came to a conclusion with the choir performing a gospel song and Steve being included in the presentation. More chills. I’m not sure why I’ve been thinking about this particular episode but I’m glad I was able to watch it as a youngster because it obviously has stuck with me over the years.

-Out of the Wilderness

At the Queen’s table

I can’t explain most of my dreams, and now I’ve had two that included the band Queen (click here for the other one I wrote about). I know that I like Queen, their music, and I like veggie burgers. Now you might be asking,

Did he just randomly bring up veggie burgers?

you

Yes. Yes, I did. This dream I had also included a guy that, if you didn’t know it was him, you’d think it was Freddy Mercury himself. His name is Marc Martel. He can configure his voice to sound like a handful of singers, most notably is the former lead singer of Queen. He also performed the songs in the film Bohemian Rhapsody although he was not the actor in the movie. Also, why is Adam Lambert the current lead singer of Queen? I don’t get it. Anyway, back to the dream…

I was on a cooking show with a teammate who I don’t remember, but we were tasked to come up with an entree to serve Marc Martel who was sitting in as the celebrity judge. We were under pressure so because of Marc’s affiliation with Queen, I had the idea to make a meal that was “fit for a queen.” Clever, right? We decided to make a veggie burger from scratch. Perhaps with the theme, “Another One Bites the Veg”… Maybe?

Unfortunately, I woke up before the critique of our vegetarian-friendly burger so unless I dream up a sequel, I’ll never know if we are the champions or we royally failed. Be assured that if there is a follow up to this story, I’ll post it and include a link on this post.

But for now, just remember fat-bottomed girls make the rockin’ world go round.

-Out of the Wilderness

A reaction to the first Presidential debate

There’s a reason politics aren’t mentioned in the lyrics of “America the Beautiful” because what we watched last night was not beautiful. Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden had the opportunity to lay out a vision for what they wanted the next four years to look like and all they could do is bash one another. If I had to describe my feelings on the debate in just three words, I’d use these:

Dizzy. Annoyed. Worried.

All Trump had to do was set Biden up and get out of the way. Simple as that. There were moments he had a good setup but he never got out of the way! Joe Biden is consistent when it comes to gaffes and I’m sure most people expected a few during the back and forth exchanges with Trump, but Trump was in full steamroller mode.

I’m a steamroller, baby, I’m bound to roll all over you.

“Steamroller Blues” Elvis Presley

Trump missed a grand opportunity to let Americans see Biden trip over himself on live TV. Next time I hope Trump drops the needless self-promotion and bullying interruptions to give Biden time to talk himself into a corner. At the very least, ask him a tough question or two, get under his skin, then just sit back and let him meander. In defense of Trump, Biden missed the mark also. Resorting to name-calling (clown, disgrace, worst President ever, racist, etc), he failed to inspire any sort of hope in his potential term as President.

To pick a winner in this first debate is like a teacher announcing which of two students got a higher F than the other. Hopefully the next debate will actually include a civil conversation between the two.

What did you think of the debate? Do you think any undecided voters were swayed one way or the other?

-Out of the Wilderness