My Neighborhood is Burning!

As today was a bit warmer, I thought I'd take advantage of the weather for a walk up the nearby hill. But just around the corner, I discovered a great burning sensation.

The neighboring farmer was burning the field next to the creek that borders his land and our neighborhood, in order to keep trees from growing too large and clogging up the creek with their roots. I would think that trees help reduce erosion, but he said these are the wrong kind of trees.


The result was a controlled burn and a partially blackened field, reminding me of the plausible origins of my own name- "island of fire" from burning fields to prepare the land for crops in Finland.

Another fire burning in the distance framed the disturbed birds. The same farmer told me he had actually dedicated this wetlands as a federal bird sanctuary flyway, where he could hunt birds in season, and the rest of the birds could find a place to relax in their travels North and South.















At the top of the hill I found a rusty can, riddled with holes, and spent casings on the ground below. All next to the quarry- for the farmer told me that was indeed what it was, lending greater credence to my earlier rendition of the plot of Brother Sun Sister Moon.

Returning down the hill, I felt a bit like Moses, shocked in his return down the mountain with the stone tablets. I looked down, and it appeared as if my entire neighborhood was burning.

I experienced one last thrill, walking on the straight path, between the flames like Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego, and pointed the camera straight into the smoke cloud. This is what smoke looks like, while you're choking and have your eyes closed and are hoping your foot doesn't step into the flame.