Monday, February 2, 2009

Set the Night on Fire


I've come to realize something in life since living on the farm out here. People in agriculture are a little different from the rest of us. To anyone not from an ag (or pyromaniac background) this picture above would be quite disturbing, something you might see on the news, but not something that happens in your own backyard (or the dry field next to your backyard).



Most normal suburbia wives will never have to see their husbands walking through a 30 ft fire or standing with a shovel next to the dry waist high grasses that surround the backside of the fire, waiting to put out anything that might catch.


However, I'm no longer a normal suburbia wife, so I now get to see this scene played out at least once or twice a year, with my own family as the eager participants. Last year, about 3 weeks before I had Lias, we bounced 15 minutes into the depths of the farm to a big, huge 25 ft deep pit the guys had dug to push stumps into after clearing the fence line. There were also all sorts of household items (couches, beds, junk) from the delinquent tenants that left all their trash in the houses when they moved. John jumped into the pit, along with 2 jugs of gasoline and promptly commenced in lighting it. I almost had a hearth attack as I watched from the truck with Ava and Nathan. I saw a ball of fire shoot up and then John jump out of the pit about 2 seconds later. John swears he wasn't even close to the fire but all that ran through my mind was "how in the world would I, obesely pregnant, ever get John out of that massive pit and bump all the way back down that dirt road that already almost put me in labor to the main road, and get 30 minutes to the dinky local hospital with a burnt husband and two screaming little kids?" John still thinks I overreacted but I'd like to see how anyone else would handle that situation.





Luckily, I seem to be passing on my fear of the huge fires onto my offspring. They all thought the fire was really cool until the wind started whipping it up. Actually, I don't think they were a bit scared of it but they were really hungry and cold, even though you could feel the heat from about 40 ft away. I hope Nathan retains this healthy fear of flames until well past his teenage years. John tells me that one of the scariest situations he's ever been in has been when a field he's burning turns directions and is coming straight at you.





The fuel for this fire was all the old massive trees that have come down around here in the past few months, one dried up Christmas tree and 2 months worth of boxes and papers from our own garage.


This big stump in the fire was about 4 ft wide and 20 ft long so it burnt nicely--- for about 2 days. John kept going back later that night to check on it and make sure it hadn't gone anywhere. Next time we light one of these little campfires I'll make sure and let all you suburbia friends know so you can come on out and feel the heat of our country bonfires. They're quite the rage.


9 comments:

  1. Hey, this is Stephanie Larson (Chapman now) and I just wanted to say HI--you have a beautiful family and home! I grew up in the country, so I totally know all about the gigantic bonfire thing--it was something I was used to, but I did get freaked out when rather flammable or explosive things were thrown in!

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  2. A little exciting but I'm with you on being nervous. That fire looked pretty massive. Aren't you glad you get to experience country life?!

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  3. I hate fires, but Nick is a big pyro! I am right there with ya! Nick would love to help John!
    When we are in Mexico, Nick's favorite thing to do is have a fire work show for the family. You know, you just never know with the Mexican Fire works.... they have much shorter fuses, you never know if they have been tinkered with. So Nick lights them and then quickly dives away in the sand. Anyway I am usually so paranoid about Nick blowing off his arm, I can never fully enjoy the show! And if he did injure himself, what's the Mexican emergency room like????

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  4. That would have scared me to death--the John in the fire thing. I would have cried hysterically. But besides that, we could use a big fire. We have about a million branches down in our town...and it is freezing!!!!!!

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  5. Fun, fun
    I used to love when we had bonfires.

    Hey Merry is on Singular too. I think xopenex (sp?) tends to affect her behavior more often. It is an albuterol derivative and those are usually known to cause behavior problems. Usually when Merry is having frequent attacks her behavior is really quite horrid. The allergist changed her from pulmicort to advair in an inhalor. It is so much better because we do not have to do the daily nebulizer. He also added over the counter zyrtec to her regimen. She has only be on this about 2 weeks, but the frequency of her attacks has decreased. She used to be using xopenex every couple of days.

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  6. oops I mean she is on Flovent not advair

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  7. I swear John is afraid of nothin'! What a hunk you have Lynnie!

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  8. Lynnie,
    I love reading your blog! It is wonderful to hear about your family and adventures, and I love the way I can hear your voice as I read. I was your merrie miss teacher many years ago, but it is great to see and feel your personality as a woman and a mom.

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  9. Hey girl,
    That is quite a house you have. I love your blog! It will be a good way for us to keep in touch. That beats bumping in to you every other year or so!

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