Coop's Corner: Controlled Burn

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Controlled Burn

Our neighbor, actually neighbor(s), have established large stands of native prairie grass on both sides of us. We knew that our neighbor on one side was planning a spring burn and on our way home from work this afternoon, from Red Wing, 10 miles away, we saw huge clouds of brown smoke. Sure enough, the crew was out and working on breaking the large acreage into smaller, controllable parcels.

Beyond the yesterday-planted cornfield and across the line fence.

Black and sooty now, but give it a week and we'll be living next door to the definition of green.

11 comments:

Erik RMay 15, 2013 at 10:01 PM
Hey, it least the burning in your neighborhood is controlled... there was a 9026 acre wildfire about 25 miles west of here!
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Martha May 16, 2013 at 6:47 AM
Really glad you were not affected by the fire, Erik. Very sorry for those who were.

I would LOVE to see a motorcycle ride 'n' stop at those restored prairie fields once they get in full "bloom". I love restored prairie.
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TrobairitzMay 16, 2013 at 9:59 AM
Looking forward to seeing the fields of green and wildflowers.

They used to burn off the agricultural fields around here before plowing, but the smoke would drift and after a bad multiple-car accident on I-5 they banned field burning. The burn would control pests and weeds.

So now the farmers use pesticides and herbicides (which pollute the ground water) and have to till and plow several times instead of once which creates dust storms across the roads instead.

No win situation.
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SonjaMMay 16, 2013 at 12:09 PM
Controlled burning or not, the smoke in the air always makes me want to flee...
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Coop a.k.a. CoopdwayMay 16, 2013 at 8:31 PM
Sonja,
I've never felt threatened by fire but can imagine being terrified if my home and people were in the path of flames. There are precautions that rural dwellers can take to minimize the risk.
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Others say....

"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

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The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

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When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

"I tell the guy's girlfriend that the only difference between the book's main character Phaedrus and myself is that I am neither brilliant, tortured or insane, she looks at my bike and there is an uncomfortable silence." --------ahendepe (a.k.a. Vermin)