Smokey Dinner

About a week ago, I was broiling a piece of chicken to have for dinner. Now, at this point, I should point out that the ventilation in my kitchen isn't the best, so a few moments after I opened the oven door to flip the chicken, the fire alarm goes off and I was forced to go deal with that. And by deal with that, I mean standing in beneath the smoke detector and fanning it with a towel. When the alarm FINALLY shut off, I returned to the kitchen and saw something beautiful. The light streaming through the open terrace door. It was really stunning - the light had almost a tangible quality to it. Anyone who's seen a heavily hazed dance concert knows something of the quality of light I mean. But inmy kitchen, in my house, the effect seemed so out of place, and that made it somehow special - maybe simply because it was unexpected. I stood for a bit and watched how the light was streaking and flickering in the air and on the wall, until the rest of the smoke dissipated and that little moment ended.