Looking out at the island in front of us right now it looks kind of hazy.. There is a definite haze and I know why. Everyone is jumping at the chance with this perfect weather to have a burn pile and clean up their properties. There has been a burning ban all summer so this is the first good chance to “git at er”.  With the burning comes the haze.

When we used to come to the island with the kids in the summers a bonfire would be a regular occurrence. Evening swims followed by s’mores and hot chocolate by the fire were the norm. Heck, for the first ten years Papa and Guy had the property they camped here and all of the cooking was done over the open fire. Guy was an amazing cook and she had a whole repertoire of dinners she could make.. They must have bought their tinfoil at Costco because everything was wrapped in tinfoil and cooked on the fire.. mmmm… Lemon yoghurt chicken, with baked potatoes… I can still remember its taste.. All the better because you were eating it in front of the fire, camping on an island.

It is such a rewarding feeling having a big burn pile… Once the heavy lifting is done to gather the debris, you can rest your back with a beer in front of the fire.. and science does all of the work.. After the trees were taken down on our neighbours property last week there was a lot to clean up. Some of the rounds were huge. It was a big tree.

They must have weighed over 150 pounds.. Certainly 150 more pounds than E or I can lift.

So we did what any self-respecting parent would do. We bribed our sons with turkey to come and help.. and they did.. yeah for them!

It was so great of them to come.

During the 60’s in the city here where I grew up families would burn their fall leaves in metal incinerators. Everyone had one in the back yard by the lane.. Once again.. where there are burn piles there was haze.. and the haze was what we called the fall fog. Fog so thick we played a game at our elementary school called fog tag. You would run into the middle of the field and hide in plain sight. With the help of thick pea soup fog, could remain safe from the “it” guy… If you could hear him coming you just stepped a few yards back out of his way… Hard to imagine now that it took so long to clue in that we should probably stop putting all that crap into the air we breathe. Composting leaves is so much better for the garden.

So with the advent of composting and the banning of fires in the city we have lost the thick fog of our youth and a really fun game has been forgotten… Because we can’t

play that anymore….