I Had a "Blast" on New Year's Eve

Literally, we had a "blast" at the Quiñónez home last night.

Cecy ... believe it or not ... was in the kitchen. She had received a turkey as a gift, and she wanted to share it with family and friends. Cecy has a gas stove in her kitchen. It has electronic ignition, but it is not automatic. You have to turn the gas knob for the burner or oven, and hit the igniter button. 

Well, apparently Cecy thought she had lit the oven. She called me into the kitchen to see the turkey and a big rice casserole that she had just put in the oven, and then she noticed that the oven was not lit. There was some momentary confusion as she was trying to light the stove, allowing some gas to build up, although the oven door was open. When the gas ignited, I can only describe the sound as a shotgun blast right in front of us.

People ran from all corners of the house to see what had happened. A window was broken one room away from the concussion. A curtain was knocked out of a window two rooms away. Cecy and I were standing directly in front of the oven ... about a foot away ... and other than a little bit of ear ringing, we were fine. In fact, we both started laughing and couldn't stop. I don't know why.

If you are physicist and can explain this away ... please don't. I choose to believe it was a God moment. How can the concussion from the blast break windows and knock down curtains rooms away and do nothing to two people standing a foot away directly in the path of the blast? God is good. 

So this was the extent of my new year's eve blast. And in case you were wondering ... and perhaps most importantly ... the food was fine. In fact, it was delicious.

Happy new year! God bless you!

--Joe (in Guatemala)