FIRE

LAST WORDS: " I STILL THINK IT WOULD HAVE BURNED ITSELF OUT."
FIRST WORDS, "WHY NOT BURN A SMALL SPOT TO PLANT THE CLOVER?"
SUN WAS SHINING, MILD BREEZE BLOWING, TWO SOULS WITH SELF-RELIANCE AND AN INGRAINED AVERSION TO EMBARRASSMENT. TWO SHOVELS READY. THE GRASS WAS LIT . MY, IT WAS DRY. IT WAS THE FIRST NICE SUNNY, SPRING DAY ON WHICH WE THOUGHT OUR SPIRITS COULD FLY. QUICKLY, THE CIRCLE OF FIRE EXPANDED. QUICKER STILL OUR FLAT SHOVEL HEADS POUNDED THE BURNING EDGES. THE TURN WAS EXTINGUISHED AND UNDER CONTROL UNTIL THE FIRST WHIFF OF A SOUTHERN BREEZE FANNED THE EDGES. EXPANSION WAS QUICKER THAN ARMS FLAILING THE GROUND. SILENCE PREVAILED FROM TWO DILIGENT, DESPERATE WORKERS. THE CIRCLE GREW. THE POUNDING TOO. MAYBE I SHOULD CALL 911. "NO, "I THINK IF THE BREEZE DOESN'T COME UP AGAIN, WE'RE O.K." THE CIRCLE OF FIRE GREW. THE POUNDING TOO. IN SPITE OF SWEATING, MOUTH-BREATHING AND ADRENALINE PUMPING THROUGH THE REPETITIVE ACTIONS ON THE IRREGULAR LINE OF HEAT, THE CIRCLE GREW. ANOTHER BREEZE CAME UP WHOOSHING THE EXTREMITIES FARTHER. MINUTES BECAME QUARTER HOURS, AN HOUR AND BEYOND. THE POUNDINGS ON PERIPHERIES CONTINUED. FINALLY, A SECOND, " I THINK I SHOULD CALL 911." FEAR WAS INSPIRED BY THE APPROACHING NEIGHBOR'S FENCE LINE, BY A SECOND FIELD OF FIRE BEING OPENED UP, BY A SECOND NEIGHBOR’S PROPERTY BORDERED BY BROKEN DOWN BRANCHES AND BRAMBLES, BY FEAR IN THE SOUTH WHERE TWIGS, DOWNED TREES AND WEEDY VEGETATION LITERALLY FORMED NOT ONLY A PROPERTY BOUNDARY BUT AN IMPENETRABLE GULLY. FEAR THAT IF CALLED, FIRE CONTROL WOULD NOT GET HERE IN TIME. "TELL THEM IT IS A GRASS FIRE OUT OF CONTROL," HE SAID. CALLING 911 MEANT WALKING WEAK AND WINDED TO THE PHONE ANOTHER FIELD AWAY. FIRE, FEAR AND EMBARRASSMENT PRETTY MUCH PROVIDED THE INSPIRATION TO SEEK HELP AND THE ABILITY TO RETURN TO THE FIRE LINE QUICKLY APPROACHING THE NEIGHBOR'S FENCE LINE. MY, HOW THE FACE GLOWS AND A MAN SWEATS FROM UNRELENTING HEAT.

WONDERS WERE WROUGHT BY A SHINY, RED, 2/4 PUMPER TRUCK THAT 'SAVED THE AFTERNOON.' MY, HOW SWEET THE TASTE OF WATER AND A CUP OF TEA TO EXHAUSTED COMBATANTS. AFTER THE FIRE, CAME THE RAIN. A SOFT DRIZZLE FALLS TODAY ON A BLACKENED FIELD. MY CO-WORKER STILL THINKS "THE FIRE WOULD HAVE BURNED ITSELF OUT." OUR MARRIAGE IS GREATLY ENHANCED BY HIS SENSE OF HUMOR; MY HEALTH BY AN OCCASIONAL, UNEXPECTED CARDIO-VASCULAR WORKOUT.