TheBanyanTree: Hey, This is the "non-smoking" area!

[NancyIee at aol.com]

Brush fires rage in southern Georgia. They also closed the Interstate  
between Sarasota and points north for an entire day (making rush-hour traffic  
clogged into the city roads and narrow byways.)  And, no matter how the  wind 
blows, we have smoke.  Choking smoke.  Smoke that makes the faint  hearted and 
respiratory-challenged folks stay indoors.  Smoke that  postponed my trips into 
town and lessened the time I wanted to spend on yard  work.
 
Yesterday, it wasn't as bad. Life seemed almost normal, though we all  
smelled like stagnant bars and billiard parlors in the old days before  
"non-smoking" laws.  Today started sunny. I pretended that the haze on the  horizon was 
lifting dew, morning mist, something in my eyes.
 
But, no. It was smoke. I cannot deny that this afternoon as the sky  darkens. 
I wish they were rain clouds. But, it's smoke.  Hmm. winds from  the west.  
That must be a new fire blooming somewhere.  There has been  no lightning, so 
one can't blame "Mother Nature".  Then, it must be caused  by some fool tossing 
a butt out his car window.  I'd like to toss HIS  butt out a window.  Or 
kids. It's a hoot to set a fire then race into  hiding and watch the action. Maybe 
it will make the papers, burn down the  school. Hurray!
 
It has been so dry here.  Not even our early named tropical storm  (weeks 
ahead of the hurricane season) can ease our need for rain.  I watch  the growing 
haze.  I listen to the wind to determine the direction.  I  go outside and 
watch my barn and the tall pine trees that grace my ten  acres.  They go up like 
gas-soaked paper, those pine trees.  I have  three hundred feet of hose, but I 
may as well pee on a brush fire as try to  control it with a hose. I wonder 
if the horses are better off out in the  pasture, or tucked into the barn.
 
Thank goodness the fire station is a mile away.
 
NancyLee



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