Cooking for a holiday meal is one of my favorite things. And since I got a dishwasher, I don’t even mind the cleanup. This past Christmas night, I cooked my little heart out, loaded the dishwasher, wiped out and turned on the self-cleaning oven and jumped in the bed – satisfied with a terrific holiday experience, a wonderful meal and an easy cleanup.

About an hour later, I woke up. My chest hurt, and the room smelled funny. The dogs were getting restless. I turned on my flashlight (Mommie always had insisted in having one by her bed, and I guess I inherited the flashlight gene from her), and I saw swirly things in my room.

I remember thinking, “That’s weird. I wonder what’s going on? An alien visit?”

I started to lie back down. Then, it dawned on me that something was really not right. There wasn’t supposed to be swirly things in my room! Cheyenne was trying to pull my nose off my face. So, I got up to let the dogs out, and it hurt to breathe. The air smelled awful.

I went into the kitchen and got hit by more swirlies, so I turned on the light only to see the blackest smoke I have ever seen pouring out of the oven vents.

“Shades of Ebenezer Scrooge! I’m about to learn something,” I thought.

But the fog was getting heavier between my ears, and it was harder to think. I found the door and blessed fresh, cool air greeted me as soon as I figured out how to open the door. It only took a minute for the fog to lift from my mind, and I got busy getting the dogs out, covering the fish tanks and securing the cats. Then, I threw the main breaker in order to shut off the self-cleaning feature of the oven.

After a bit, the door disengaged. and I could open it to the worst stench ever. But, we were all safe. I turned the breaker back on and activated the whole-house fan.

For two hours, the animals and I sat on the porch waiting for the smoke to clear. I thought over the evening’s events. I run my self-cleaning feature several times a year because I am particular about build-up in my oven. I always wipe it out first because I have had a couple of close calls with house fires before and, quite frankly, I’m a little scared of them. I have seen burned people, and I do not want to be one of them. It looks painful, and anybody who knows me, knows that I am against pain – especially when it affects me.

The next day, it took me about three hours to really clean out the oven and the resulting smoke smudges. I still don’t know what caused the black smoke to pour out like that. But, here’s a warning: If you have a self-cleaning oven, open your windows before you start the cycle and stay at home and awake during the cleaning cycle. There is no doubt in my mind that if I had not intervened by shutting off the main breaker, my oven would have burned my house down and the animals and I would have asphyxiated in that black smoke and terrible smell.

If I ever get brave enough to use that cycle again, you can be assured that I will have the windows opened and I will be awake.

Hope your new year is a safe one.

T&D Correspondent Sherryl Peters can be reached by e-mail at Boykinbaby@surrealestate.com or by phone at 803-263-4058. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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