Conflagration Consideration, Use It or Lose It

 

 

When the boys were little, they had this little game they'd play called Opposite Day. Bet your kids did too. It had multiple uses, none of which would ever work out well for me. Their favorite time to cite the dreaded (for me) opposite day would be to manipulate a negative (for them) situation into a positive. You know what I mean:

One of my sons (they're interchangeable in this instance), calling up from the basement: Mom, can we have soda?

Me: No, it's 10 minutes until dinner.

 

I notice both sons come up from the basement holding cans of soda.

 

Me: What are you doing? I just said "no."

Both of my sons: It's Opposite Day! 

Or they'd invoke it to trick me, in an every day is April Fools Day sort of way. Like when I'm cooking dinner and take a quick bathroom break.

One of my sons (they're interchangeable in this instance too), yelling from the kitchen: Mom, mom, the breadsticks are burning.

I yank up my pants and run into the kitchen to find nothing burning.

 

Boys (laughing in the way only little boys can do when they've successfully punked their mom): Ha, ha, it's Opposite Day!

 

 

 Everything Seasoning Bread Twists

 

 

Opposite Day is actually a thing, btw. I know 'cause I asked my friend Google. And contrary to popular (or at least my kids' popular) belief, it's on January 25th, as opposed to any (and every) day you feel like invoking it.

 

So why am I writing about conflagration today? Apparently because it's opposite day. In April. Which may be the opposite of January but that's a rabbit hole I'm just not venturing down.

 

Is there a point to all of this rambling? Yes, and it's my most recent conundrum. 

 

As I age, I'm disappointed to find that my vocabulary just isn't what it was. It's especially discouraging because writing is the way I've chosen to amuse myself (and, ironically, work that muscle in my head formerly known as my brain). More often than I'd like to admit, I can't quite grasp a word I'm reaching for. I know what it is, how it fits, what it means, but I can't capture it. Sometimes I can google a description of what I'm trying to say and find the word. Other times I can find a similar one to get my meaning across, but that's almost equally as frustrating. 

Today, though, was unusual. I kept thinking of the word "conflagration." It popped into my head, and more than a few times. I wasn't looking for the word, I wasn't looking for any word, it wasn't one of those instances. It was just sort of out of nowhere. And it was persistent.

 

The opposite of losing a word, I'd actually found one. Or maybe it found me.

 

I have to admit I've never had this earworm thoughtworm thing before so I'm not sure of what happens next, but if I were to guess, it's some kind of use it or lose it word conspiracy. Like "I'm here now, use me while you can 'cause if and when you need me there's no guarantee . . ."

You and I both know that if I ever do need that word, or even want it, there's a good chance it'll pick that moment to go into hiding. So if you happen to find me with smoke coming out of my ears, frantically grinding those gears in my head searching for a word, you know what to say to me, right?

 

Conflagration. 

 

But why this word, and why today? 

Conflagration isn't a word I'd use often, actually most likely never, and to be honest I only had a loose understanding of its meaning. Something to do with war, I thought.

 

I've done a little research and now know I was sort of right. It's often used in reference to a large, destructive fire. OK, thankfully there's no reason I'd be thinking about that right now. But it's also used to describe a catastrophic, violent, or devastating event (including war). And that may be the reason why conflagration keeps making its entrance into my thoughts today. 

 

As I sit here bombarded by stories about police shootings and trials, mass shootings that have become so frequent that they don't even break into television programming to cover them, people still dying of covid and many continuing to refuse the vaccination, the senate at a standstill, politicians credibly accused of sexual relationships with minors  . . . 

 

Maybe, just maybe, conflagration is a word I should be thinking about. Because there actually is a large and destructive fire. And it is us.

 

But what is the opposite of conflagration? It's peace. 

Everything Seasoning Bread Twists        

                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp sesame seeds

1/2 tsp poppy seeds

3/4 tsp dried minced onion

1/4 tsp garlic salt

a pinch of kosher salt

1 tube refrigerated crescent sheet

1 TBSP butter

 

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, minced onion, garlic salt, and kosher salt. Set aside.

*Melt the butter, set aside.

*Unroll the crescent sheet onto the parchment paper on the baking sheet to about 14 inches long and 9 inches high. Spread the melted butter onto the crescent sheet with a pastry brush. Sprinkle with the seasoning mix.

*Cut the crescent sheet into 14 strips, each about an inch wide. A pizza cutter works well for this.

*Separate the strips slightly from each other on the parchment paper. Leave the top of each strip on the parchment paper, then gently, loosely twist the strips 4 - 5 times into a loose spiral.

*Bake for about 12 - 15 minutes or until they start to brown.