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100 Candles + Fire = Donut?


Friends
Merriam-Webster defines a pyromaniac as "a person who has an uncontrollable impulse to start fires". Those of you who think me a pyro, on account of my new year's eve celebrations, should note I can control my impulses. I guess that makes me more of a pyrophile. That said, I do enjoy a good pyrotechnic display, no matter the proportions. Case in point, my grandmother Jane would have turned 100 years old on Sunday. She was really keen to reach this milestone and blow-out 100 candles. Although I had promised her I would host the party, the deck seemed stacked against it. When she passed away six years ago, I could have called it off. I didn't. When the pandemic hit, limiting gatherings, again, I could have called it off. I didn't. I was ready to have a small get together when inspiration hit and technology came to the rescue. Enter Zoom! Sunday, most of the family joined to sing happy birthday and watch the fire hazard from a safe distance (what else were they going to do? -- it's not like they were going somewhere!). It turns-out that if you put a bunch of candles side-by-side, the flames feed off of each other. A lone candle's light may go as high as an inch on a good day. Put it next to a bunch of other candles and you can get a foot-tall inferno, easy! And, when it's done, you get a wax donut.


Happy Friday!

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