Where There Is Smoke.....DON'T BREATHE!!!

  The "Big Cleanup" of the yard is still underway.  Today, the rose garden was cleared and trimmed, fig trees "un-mulched" and about a billion acorns and hickory nuts were raked and carted off down he hill.  There, the nuts can feed numerous critters for the next few weeks but will be out from underfoot.  There is nothing worse than stepping on a hickory nut and taking a slippery slide down the hillside.  It is best that the nuts are out of the way.  As all of this was being done, my little burn pit was chugging out smoke from leaves and twigs.  The garden area was sometimes quite thick with the smoke but since we had a stiff north wind, the smoke was soon sent flying over the Bay.  Occasionally, a heavy fog would roll back in off the Bay making it difficult to tell if the smoke was the problem or if the haze was fog.  

  About noontime, I began to notice that the area was becoming quite obscured by the white haze.  Hmmm, fog?  Smoke?  Maybe a mixture?  It was about that time that my brother called asking if I smelled smoke.  Duh??  Of course!  I even smelled of smoke myself! I had been burning leaves all morning but it did not make sense that he should smell my little burn pile.  He was north of me and with the wind blowing everything south, the smell should have followed.  That said, he informed me that he could hardly see anything down his way and he thought perhaps there was a woods fire north of him.  That's it!  A woods fire would account for all of the heavy smoke but that did not bode well for his place nor the Little Bayou House.  Again, that wind was blowing everything southward...right on top of us.  A quick trip to the pier, proved that whatever was burning, it was truly huge.  Everything was blocked from view. 

  After a bit, a call to the fire department was met with "Its a controlled burn.  Everything is ok....just do not drive, stay indoors if the smoke gets too thick and, well, don't breathe."  Huh, don't breathe?  The first two directives were pretty logical advice but that last one had me pondering the smarts of the person taking the calls.  LADY!  I HAVE TO BREATHE!  

  The smoke lingered for the rest of the day even though my little burner died out. Even tonight, the air is thick with the stench of the smoke. Whew!  I am glad that I did not cause all of that!  My little burner cannot wreak that much havoc!