The lady told Hick that he had to get a burn permit. So Hick said he'd take one. She said it should be okay for him to fill out his application for a burn permit (which is good for one week, no charge) as long as he had a garden hose to use in case the fire got out of control.
"Well. I don't have a garden hose. Because I don't have water. I haven't finished renovating the house, so I haven't called a building inspector to approve the house for having the water turned on."
"Oh. Well. I guess you can't have a burn permit."
"The lady next door has a garden hose!"
Hick got his burn permit. I guess the city really bends over backwards to let people set fires inside the city limits. I don't think Hick even discussed the matter of possibly using her garden hose with the lady next door.
Anyhoo... Hick waited for a non-rainy rainy day. Like Tuesday. Cloudy, likelihood of rain. There'd been rain on Sunday night and Monday. So the ground was still wet. As you can see, the back yard of Hick House is lush with grass:
Yes, the grass needs a-mowin'! But it's good for preventing fire from spreading. There were two separate burn piles.
Hick stayed in town until they smoldered down to embers. We had a down pour here during that time. So much that my internet was intermittent. Hick said he only felt some sprinkles. So it was a good day for burning at Hick House.
I loved burning leaves in the fall. We used to be able to burn them in the street. At some point it was difficult driving down the road and seeing through all the burning leaf smoke on a weekend.
ReplyDeleteso much wasted compost, gone up in flames.
Deletei can't see a hose in that photo :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure Hick has even seen a hose in the neighbor lady's yard! He's an experienced burner, though. He first said he was going to put the stuff in the little creek to burn. It's just a trickle. I told him THAT would be pollution! I guess I value water more than air.
DeleteLike joe, we used to burn leaves in the street and I still can remember the smell. (Guess nowadays we'd say the "aroma".)
ReplyDeleteYes, that always takes me back, when I'm driving along and get a whiff of yard smoke.
DeleteI'm very envious of that lush green yard. The space! The trees! The green, green grass of home! What passes for a backyard here is uneven and broken concrete with communal washing lines and large wheelie bins.
ReplyDeleteI remember burning backyard rubbish when I was little. Almost every yard had their own incinerator, but they are long gone now and backyard burning is illegal. So of course now there is far too much rubbish every week and the tips are overflowing, the recycle depots are packed to the rafters and overflowing and council rates keep going up as councils desperately try to find a solution. In my opinion, a few well policed burn sites in each council area would be a grand idea.
Hick and I thought it was kind of small, since we can sit here in the La-Z-Boy and look out on the vast field that is our front yard.
DeleteI'm sure you would work wonders on that space, and have it beautified with flowers and a crop of vegetables, maybe.
We had an incinerator in California when I was a wee lad. Burned all our garbage, there was no garbage pick up, there was no plastic, everything burned and I guess all bottles were recycled. The system worked pretty well, except breathing was kinda of difficult some days.
DeleteThat Hick knows his way around. The neighbor may have had a hose, right? That little green acre is lush.
ReplyDeleteHick wasn't born yesterday! He knows legal ways around the law. He's also a good persuader, though his tactics don't work as well on me.
DeleteWe have such terrible forest fire here, I can see why the city is careful.
ReplyDeleteIt was also windy that day, but Hick waits until there's been a good soaking rain before he burns stuff.
DeleteWhen my youngest boy was just a baby, and the other three years old, the neighbor's 13-year-old daughter caught the woods on fire while burning trash in their trash barrel. I was afraid our cedar house was going to go up in flames. We sat in the car, watching, ready to take off if it did.
The neighbor lady had come over to warn me, and her husband got their GARDEN HOSE, and also tried digging a fire break in the brush. Thank goodness it wasn't windy that day.
They never buy a rural fire tag (cost $75), but we do. If that fire had gone out of control, the firefighters would have fought to save our house, and charged them the cost of their efforts if they had time to save theirs, too.