Modern Conveniences

Sometimes flame and I don't mix well like the time when I was looking for the pilot light on my tiny, old gas stove in my first apartment that I had on my own, living by myself at 712 E. 1st street in Duluth, MN in 1991 and figured I wouldn't have a problem with a gas stove since it looked much like the one my mom had in our tiny trailer we lived out of during the summer when I was a kid in Dresser Township, WI where you had to light the pilot light each time you wanted to use the oven and of course the stove top burners too but the oven was what concerned me the most because that day in Duluth I had just moved in the night before last and now wanted to bake some chocolate chip cookies which are my specialty and I'm not kidding my cookies are so good you'll stand in amazement after eating one not knowing what to do next but before I could make anyone feel that I had to get the oven lit so I turned on the gas which I could hear from the hissing sound and then lit the match and opened the door where the little hole for the pilot light was supposed to be if the oven was like the one in Dresser Township, WI but when I opened the door there was no little hole in the front so I started to look around for the little hole because maybe it was hiding in the corner or up the side or on the back wall and no it wasn't already automatically lit for me because I couldn't feel any heat I could only hear the hissing sound of the open gas line so now I was becoming a bit more frantic because some time had passed and the gas was building up or so I imagined but of course the thought of turning the gas off and looking for the hole first didn't enter my mind because I couldn't believe that I couldn't find the hole in such a small space so stubbornly I continued on where suddenly I saw a little hole back in the corner but since it was dark back there I couldn't see well but luckily I had the match to bring light to the area which it did and then some when the match flame met with the hole and suddenly the WOOSH! happened engulfing my head in a whirl of flame which caused my cat-like instincts to kick in and I jumped backwards out of the tiny inferno in my first kitchen which sent me back against the wall where I slid down holding the wall with both hands with my eyes popping out and my chest heaving as I sat back in shock waiting for the oven to sprout eyes and legs and come after me but those are just silly things your mind does when you're in a stressful situation but I sure did learn a lesson and actually developed a phobia towards gas ovens and even stove-tops that lasted through last year until I got my own new modern oven where no match is required.