The fire

Back in November, Andi asked me whether or not we were going to get a Christmas tree this year. I always like to decorate our ficus and pretend it is a Christmas tree in an effort to be cheap ecological, but Andi gave me the look that meant it just wouldn't be the holidays without this tradition being fully met, trucked in Norwegian tree and all. In keeping with Austrian tradition, we also bought an 'Advent Kranz', a horizontal wreath with 4 candles stuck in it. You are supposed to burn the first candle on the the first Sunday of Advent, and then light each following week's candle only on a Sunday.

We were late to this this year and bought the candle on a Saturday, and lit two candles the next day, for good measure. The best part about buying the Advent Kranz a week late is that you get 50% off on the cheap, old, gas station versions, making it a very affordable ritual to follow. The bad part about buying the cheap, old, gas station versions of the Advent Kranz is that once that candle is burnt, man does the pine wreath go up fast.

After lunch today, we cleaned up the dishes, I lit the Advent Kranz candles because Advent is over, and who would want to waste the little numbins of candle left on your 7 Euro Kranz? I walked into the computer room to show Andi some pajamas I wanted, and as we were perusing the H&M online shopping site, we heard an odd crackling sound. We both stopped talking to best determine the actual origins of said crackling. I was pretty sure it was either the cat or the washing machine, meanwhile Andi began making sniffing motions as if he smelled fire. With both eyes widened and mouths dropped we tore out of the computer room, turn left, and saw that indeed, our dining room table was aflame, and poor Santa was in sheer agony.

While screaming and flailing my hands, I managed to grab the fire extinguisher from the bathroom, ripped the red seal off and doused the flames, Kranz, dining room table, the cat and anything else in my way with foam. It still smells like campfire in here.