Remember... Only you...

Among my father's many obsessions is keeping our woodstove cleaned of ashes. Every few days, he'll ask me to empty the ashes. No big deal. An easy enough task. However, he includes in his request the instructions to 'dump them back in he woods.' (Note: we live on 4.5 wooded acres here in the howling wilderness.)

Now that's where I have issues. Even if we haven't had a fire for a couple of days, there are still coals buried in the ashes. And I don't like the idea of dumping hot coals out in the woods. So I try to only do this when it's raining or there's snow on the ground or whatever.

*sigh*

Is it just a coincidence that they make a sequel to Bambie and I just about burn the forest down?

You guessed it. I dumped the ashes on the compost heap in the back yard, and about twenty minutes later noticed that the back yard was ablaze. I managed to get all the fire close to the house--it sort of spread out like a big amoeba--with the garden hose. But where it was extending back into the woods, I was a bucket brigade of one. At first, I thought I'd have to call in the professionals. I don't need our neighbors who staff the local volunteer fire department flagging me as an idiot and a firebug however. I have to see these people at the post office and the supermarket after all.

So I was happy when my dousing the flames with buckets of water drawn from the pond out back managed to bring things under control, and give me a great cardio workout while I was doing it.

So, no damage done really. Although there is the big, black telltale spot out back.

However, how timely! For today is the lunar new year, and in the Chinese calendar, it's the year of the Fire Dog. So the fire part is pretty much taken care of.

And that leaves the dog part. As in, Faithful Companion. I'm putting my thinking cap on, and trying to figure out some way to make this a very special lunar year for him.

And I plan on being a total dog for the next twelve cycles of twenty-eight days, too.

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