Combustion

Growing up, I never thought that I'd be good at electrochemistry or with topics like free energy.  Since taking college chemistry and learning about these topics, I've discovered I can understand them better than I had thought.  Sometimes I even have nerd moments.  Like the other day, I was reflecting on how oxygen is so good at accepting electrons.  It's so good, in fact, that the term that describes when an atom donates electrons to one that accepts them is called oxidation, even though other elements can act as electron acceptors. 

The reactions that most people are familiar with are usually reactions in which carbon is oxidized, such as in the combustion of methane (CH4), propane (C3H8), or octane (C8H18).  People who haven't taken biology might not know that the combustion of glucose is constantly happening in each cell in the body.  It's incredible to think about how much our lives, or just life on earth in general, depends on combustion reactions in which carbon is oxidized by oxygen.

It was most likely the combustion of cellulose (C6H10O5), that destroyed my girlfriend's parent's house in Missouri on Thursday.  No one was home at the time, so no one was hurt, thankfully.  Merilee still hasn't been able to talk to her parents, but it appears that everything is gone.  Nothing remains but the trampoline and slide in the yard.  They don't know how it happened, but they have renters and it's possible that someone left something on.  Who knows?

They had insurance and her parents were able to stay with nearby family, so no one is sleeping out in the barn with the cats and eventually they'll be able to replace a lot of what they lost.  Some things they'll never get back though.  Merilee has tons of fond memories there, even though she might still have nightmares every now and then about having to milk the goats.  She also kept a lot of personal items in that house: souvenirs from every country she's visited (quite a few), art projects she made in college (she loves art), 20 years of journal writing, her birth certificate, and many other personal items.

Though I've never lost my home to fire, I can imagine that it sucks.  If you live in southern California, which seems to catch on fire every year, you might expect to have something like this happen eventually, but the way it's happened just seems really mean.  I would feel bad complaining to Merilee about it, but I was excited to visit that house some day.  I would have loved to see her art, check out all her souvenirs, and play with her goats.  Though, I guess the latter is still possible.  Merilee also mentioned that her mother's wedding dress, which she wanted to use for her wedding, would be lost.  I would have liked to have been able to see it some day.

I don't really know what you're supposed to learn from your house burning down.  Losing all the possessions that reminded you of fond memories of your past is hard.  I'd say it's probably almost like someone died.  Those things are just gone.  Merilee is really positive though.  She's a great example of looking at the blessings you have and of being grateful.  And I love her dearly.