Ok, I like to play with fire. I get to play with it every day in the winter by keeping the corn stove going and clean – and get to gaze upon the flame in the main room at any time. On high hopes blog you can find a prairie burn, solstice bonfire, and today’s small blaze burning the old raspberry canes.

It’s good to burn the old canes as they can harbor disease and a breeding ground for raspberry pests. But more than that, it’s fun. I have stopped burning garbage and have retired the burn barrel. But nonetheless, it is a long-time rural tradition. Even Iris Dement has an unreleased song about Greg Brown and watching him tend the burn barrel.

Almost everybody has a story about themselves or a neighbor who was burning trash and something happened to start a grass fire or burn down a barn. Although it wasn’t from burning garbage, Kelli at Sugar Creek Farm posted pictures this week of photos of their barn burning down after a lightning strike a few years ago. It was an awesome sight I hope I never get to see!