Rain, Rain and more Rain

Raining solid all day and most of yesterday. Not always pouring but steady.

I should be out burning stuff, but I think we're still under a burn ban. Yes, a burn ban...when we moved here I had never lived in a rural area before and had no idea how often shit needs to be burnt. I certainly had no idea there were days when burning was good and when burning was bad. The property had lots of crap on it, an old hunting camp, and old house, a small barn and years of trash that had been left behind. The buildings were all rotting and needed to go, and when I mentioned to people that I needed to tear them down and get rid of them, everyone said the same thing: "Wait 'til it is pouring rain and chuck a molotov cocktail inside and burn 'em down."

I was in shock. My exposure to wooded areas comes from camping trips to national parks where Woodsy Owl was constantly reminding us that the smallest spark would destroy the forest and all the creatures that reside within. After being here for a few years and watching countless neighbors burn mountains of brush and piles of trash, I gave in to the idea of burning a few things and discovered something: even with a gallon of diesel fuel, it is not easy to start a fire in the rain. Well, when our place was logged the timber management company torched both of the run-down buildings and about fifty acres at the same time.

Anyway, my oldest turns seven tomorrow so haven't had time to burn doodly squat.