Keepers of the flames and turkey fillets

Recently there was a full page of The Times devoted to some people walking barefooted on a bed of hot coals. The estimated temperature of the hot coals was 1,200 degrees. These people were not a cult or religious act, they were for the most part students and faculty of Buena Vista College.

At about the same time these hot coal walkers were walking on the bed of hot embers we were grilling turkey fillets from Bil Mar. The temperature of the hot rocks under our grill was probably less than the temperature of the wood coals these people were walking on. The turkey fillets seared brown almost on contact with the grill. The fillets did not touch the hot rocks where the temperature would have been higher yet.

I have no idea how anyone can walk on hot embers and say they feel no pain. I have no idea why anyone would want to walk on hot coals in the first place. There has to be an answer other than the explanation that by concentration you can control pain, even pain from fire. However, I have never read of anyone being seriously burned while doing this.

The turkey fillets cooked golden brown in about 10 minutes and would have burned had I not stayed right there turning constantly. Some of us ate the fillets on buttered bread, others had ketchup with buns or bread. Both ways were delicious and not a single fillet was burned.

We don’t have to have too much of an excuse to start grilling. Usually a good football game or other sporting activity on television or maybe Chris from the local radio station is bringing a game into our living room. I wonder if walking on a bed of hot embers would be called sport and if Chris has ever broadcast such an event.

Jean read the article and asked me why would anyone walk on hot embers. She also asked how would someone be able to find out that people could do this without being burned. My reply was some people were grilling turkey fillets on an open pit bar-b-que and one of them accidentally stepped on the pit of red hot embers while he was barefooted. By great concentration he walked out of the fire pit and said, “Look, no burns.”

She looked over her reading glasses and I quickly regained my sanity. She can almost always bring me back to sanity by looking over her reading glasses. Even when she isn’t wearing the glasses. By bringing our grandkids into the conversation I averted an argument. I have found out in life you can win most arguments by bringing a child into the discussion. I simply said I hope none of our grandkids ever get the idea to walk on hot embers.

You may recall my story of famous women: Jenny, a student nurse and Joni, a cute six-year-old. Joni fell head first into a burning trash can. Jenny saw the accident and pulled her out of the burning debris. Jenny spent six weeks in the hospital and Joni was in the hospital 13 months. The whole episode lasted as long as it took to walk across the bed of hot coals.

In life we can get burned in many ways. It does not have to always be a fire burn. Drugs and alcohol can cook our brain. We can over-eat or under-eat; the net result would have about the same effect on us. Please take care of yourselves. You could play with fire, drugs, alcohol, etc. and be scarred for life. You are the keeper of your flame. It’s called life.

For nearly 25 years, until his death in 2015, retired grocer Don Behm wrote a column for The Storm Lake Times, “Cracker Barrel.” Don’s everyman view of everyday life was a favorite of Times readers.  This was first published on Feb. 4, 1995.