My apologies, but it was not an optimal afternoon.
Spent my morning finishing the sizing of about 2,600 pieces of Lake City 5.56 brass. Everything was going great until I got home and some damn fool (that would be me) decided to burn leaves in my ditch. Just a small amount, of course, with a water-soaked perimeter to keep things safe. Right. The fire died down and I turned my back to go into the house obeying the commands of my diuretic when shortly thereafter a knock on the door brought my attention to the fact that my front lawn was ablaze. God bless the neighbor lady who warned me. Another two minutes and I would have lost the house, the car, maybe the house next door. Having no hose on the front of the house, I was limited to a bucket for water and a plastic rake. At one point the flames got into some young pines near the corner of the house and they were licking on 6 feet. The heat was intense. I spent a frenzied ten-plus minutes alternately raking dead-leaf fuel into the advancing fire, creating a buffer, and dousing the worst of the flames with my little plastic bucket, then running inside to refill.
At one point, my post-stroke vertigo kicked in and I literally fell into the flames, but the neighbor lady, God bless her, helped me to my feet. Later, another neighbor came over with his rake and helped me finish it off. Turns out he is veteran of Gulf I and an Oath Keeper. Small world. May God bless him as well.
The lady had called the fire department but we had the thing largely out by the time they arrived. Close call. I was singed but not seriously burnt. The rake, alas, will never be the same. I also figured out, after the adrenaline drained away, that at 61 I am no fire fighter and had no business doing what I did. I was dizzy, my heart was tachy and I damn near passed out. Heck, I could easily have made Kerodin and Bill Nye very happy neo-collectivist anal sphincters and saved them the trouble of hanging me with their silly little "III" noose. Eric Holder and Morris Dees would not have been disappointed either. Stupid. It's the last time I try that, I assure you. Exhausted, I crapped out until I had to go pick up Rosey and when I got home I crapped out again. Just now awoke and my heart has finally settled down.
So, I had no afternoon posts and just now released some comments. My apologies. Blame the stupid bastard who started the fire.
16 comments:
You're not supposed to burn yourself in effigy, Mike.
Glad everybody's OK and still has all their stuff minus some grass. My sister and I did the same thing with sparklers on dry grass at 5 AM at a hotel in Nags Head back in 60s, then added to the comedy by running the halls screaming "Fire!"
Well that's a hell of a way to find out how helpful and friendly your neighbors are Mike! On the other hand all that tender could have been easy fodder for a neo-collectivist ball bearing hurler to get you out of your man cave. Now, because of you, it's spent. Here's to water on fire and good neighbors!
I learned long ago - don't burn leaves. They burn slowly and weakly, and require constant oversight. Even when you think the pile of leaves is done, it will surprise you by flaring up when you least expect it. I nearly burned my own house down a few years back, when the leaves that I thought were out cold, started burning again the following morning. I now haul them off into the woods a ways with a tarp, and don't burn anything on the property except fallen branches, and even that I do in a barrel.
Be careful, Mike....
Mike, glad you and your home are OK.
Don't know how many leaves you usually have, or if there are a lot of them in your neighborhood, but I'd suggest composting them instead of burning. If you can't do that yourself, you might see if there is a garden club in the area that would agree to pick them up. They are wonderful and valuable components of compost, and I wish I could have all of yours. We don't have trees like that where I live... sigh
Jesus Mike .... it is good to have a little excitement in your life .... "A LITTLE". Thank God you are OK we need to keep you around in case you have not figured that out.
Glad you're ok Mike. I've been burned before and it's no fun.
Leaves. bah! Just moved to the middle of the Manistee forest in Michigan. Holy moly. Never seen a forest like this. Leaves in biblical proportions. Already spent the last month raking every single day. Takes an hour just to do the front yard, and two hours for the back. By the time we're done daily, we have a pile of leaves like you wouldn't believe. And then..another hour or two to burn them, and you can't leave for a second, or the whole forest might go up in flames. And believe me..this would be a monster fire.
No sooner than it's all burned, the wind comes up and..yup..start all over. I'm watching the leaves fall as I type. But it snowed yesterday and now there is no raking..thank god. I'm worn out.
Although..I'll take the leaves over snow any day. Shoveling snow isn't fun. Especially at 68.
:(
ps..no apology needed Mike. Your blog output is not as important as your health. Hope you feel better today.
Yep, Wind, fire, and dead grass make for a interesting combination.
Hopefully there will not be anymore fires. If for some reason there is ever another fire, call the Fire Dept. They have the training and equipment to deal with it.
You funny, peter-sahn!
Ummm time to get a nice water hose with decent nozzle!
Some times it seems like the gods like to use us for amusement. ;-)
I once was burning some weeds, the wind picked up, and it got away from me. It threatened to burn down to where I had many 1800-lb bales of hay stacked up in my hay yard. I ripped my t-shirt off my back, ran to the irrigation ditch and dunked it, then went back and started wailing on that fire with that wet t-shirt (only thing I could think of). Made several trips of course. I was amazed at how well it worked and eventually got the fire out. Even better would be a large heavy bath towel. So yeah, have water sources handy, and some old towels too!
+1 on composting. Leaves look like they've been burned after a few months on the compost pile. There are worms for fishing, too.
2014 needs you.
Cheers.
Glad you are ok.
We're not 18 anymore and my back reminds me of that often!
A very positive story...
1. Lawn burned, reduces mowing.
2. Rake burned, reduces raking.
3. Mike only singed, possibly reduces time spent shaving.
Sum: more time for fighting collectivism.
(I am quite happy that you're OK, Mike.)
Post a Comment