Who am I

Sometimes I wonder who I really am. I write a column for Firefighting in Canada, but am I really a writer, or am I just a firefighter who likes to write? Cooking is fun, but I'm definitely not a chef like my friend Graham. He actually went to school and knows what he's doing. I might just be a writer that likes to cook. I enjoy instructing part time, but does that really mean I'm an instructor? Or am I just a cook that likes to talk? I fight fires and go to lots of vehicle crashes, but maybe I'm just a bushwhacker that was lucky no one else wanted the fire chief's job when it was posted 13 years ago. Hey, where did bushwhacking enter the conversation? I'm definitely not a bushwhacker (I was a farmer that cut trees for a living in the early '90s, but thats another story).

I guess it doesn't really matter who I am. Firefighting in Canada pays me, my family eats what I cook, and the Fire College keeps calling me to do courses. And I've never had a trapped person look up and ask, "Are you a real firefighter?" If someone ever did ask, I guess the answer would be, "Like it or not buddy, I'm all you've got." If you want to read an article I wrote about being "qualified," click here. If you clicked there and read the article, you probably found out that I'm not really an artist either. I'm just a fire chief that likes to draw.

Stay tuned. I'm experimenting in the kitchen again. If we all survive the experience, I'll tell you about it.