Introduction
Greetings and welcome, dear reader, to
the 114th entry in the Life
(such as it is) topic section! Also categorized as the 108th
entry in the Heritage
topic section, this article focuses on the recent yard work at the
homeplace in Hawkins County, Tennessee.
The homeplace is steeped in family
heritage and filled with memories, some bad but mostly good. On
Friday, March 6, this Appalachian Irishman assisted the two-man crew
he hired to do a significant amount of yard work. With further
future plans in mind, Lord willing, the first plan to improve the
yard is completed.
Thankfully, my youngest brother and
his wife were able to put out the blazing surprise the following
evening. Do you have a burning interest to know what the surprise
was? Well, please read further as I explain!
Friday, 3/6: Cutting,
Trimming, Piling, and Burning
After my father passed away in January
2008, T&C Lawn Service in Whitesburg, Tennessee—which comes
with the highest recommendation—has been mowing the yard at the
homeplace. Before he died, my father insisted on mowing the yard with
a riding mower. I am proud that the Lord graced him with the strength
to do so. Dad enjoyed mowing.
According to previous arrangements, a
two-man crew, both young men, arrived on Friday, March 6, around 8 AM
and started working. Delayed by my ill-timed attempt to trim my
beard, which I had mistakenly let grow out, I left our house at 8:40
AM and arrived at the homeplace by 9:50 AM.
After explaining the complete work that
I intended, I started using Papaw Wood's old wheelbarrow and began
loading fallen tree branches from the yard into it and moving them to
the brush pile in the field behind the house. Papaw's wheelbarrow got
a good workout during the day. Well, I did also.
Meanwhile, the two young men cut down
three scrub trees in the yard. Also, they cut off low-hanging
branches from good trees. Additionally, they trimmed and shaped two
bushes. Further, they cut back the dead growth from Granny Wood's
grapevine, which I hope grows back from the roots. Finally, one young
man, Logan, climbed onto the roof, removed branches that had blown
from nearby trees, and blew out the gutters.
The two young men from T&C Lawn
Service certainly had the right tools. They used a tractor with a
grapple to pick up, move, and pile the debris onto the brush pile. If
I had done all the work that they did, I would have had to buy a good
chain saw and spend several days doing the work that they did in one
day. Thank you, T&C Lawn Service, especially Logan and Will!
Joining the Friday Fun
A good neighbor from across the road
drove over on his golf cart to visit for a while. For years, his wife
and he have been keeping an eye on the homeplace for us. He and I
have burned several brush piles over the years from the debris that I
had cut back.
Bill, a friend since grade school who
lives not far away, drove over in the afternoon. Later on, seeing the
need for additional water hose, he left and came back with two of his
hoses. Those will be important as this burning story unfolds, dear
reader!
The Friday Fire
Hungry at around noon and before Bill
arrived, I drove the short distance to a nearby fast food restaurant
to have dinner (or lunch, as Yankees call it). I wasn't gone thirty
minutes.
While
I was gone, the two young men from T&C Lawn Service set the brush
pile on fire in a controlled burn. Early that morning, Cody,
from T&C Lawn Service, had obtained a burn permit. I returned
just before Bill arrived and was surprised to see the brush pile
burning. Since the weather was mostly sunny, warm, and breezy, I
thought that another day, cloudy and damp with no wind, would be
better for burning the brush.
The brush fire was burning but under
control. Unfortunately, a gust of wind blew an ember from it onto
a dead tree, which was fairly close to the burning brush pile.
The dead tree, with two trunks, caught on fire! To worsen the
situation, 22 old tires—18 of which were on metal wheels—from my
father's well machine and water truck (both salvaged years ago) were
propped up against the dead tree.
We certainly did not want those rubber tires to catch on fire.
Water pumped from the well that my
father drilled in 1974 ran through three sections of hose to an old
nozzle, which was stored in the kitchen. The two T&C Lawn Service
employees, Bill, and I took turns dousing the burning tree.
Thankfully, the rubber tires never did catch on fire.
Around 3:30 PM, the brush pile and the
dead tree were smoldering but not burning. The T&C Lawn Care
employees, realizing that their work was finished, and the burn was
under control, loaded up their tools and left after a job well done.
I wrote a check to T&C Lawn Service for payment and gave it to
them before they left.
Bill and I stayed until just after 5
PM, when I left for home. Thankfully, Bill, showing what
friendship means, stayed around for quite a while to watch the brush
pile and dead tree. If he had not volunteered to do so, I would
have had to spend the night at the homeplace.
At 4:58 PM, just before I left, I
photographed the following image of the dead tree and the brush pile.
I was standing beside my 2006 Frontier, and Bill was standing behind
me.
The dead tree and the brush pile were
smoking, but no fires were burning. The wind had died down. A
neighbor's house is seen in the background. The view looks southwest.
Notice that one of the two tree trunks had already fallen.
Staying around, Bill took the following
photograph of the dead tree, which had started burning again, at 7:15
PM.
A strong wind gust had fanned the
embers. Thankfully, Bill was able to use the water hose to douse the
fire. He remained until about 8:30 PM to ensure that both fires were
out. Thank you so much, my good friend, Bill!
Saturday Morning and
Afternoon: All Was Well
The next day, Saturday, 3/7, I had to
take our 2012 Nissan Sentra for service at two nearby locations. The
car needed an oil and filter change, tires rotated, and an alignment.
With those obligations and with the understanding that all was well
at the homeplace, I decided not to drive back up there to survey the
brush pile and dead tree.
Just after 11:30 AM, as I was about to
drive our car into the service bay for an oil and filter change and
tire rotation, Bill's text indicated that he had
gone back to the homeplace at 1:45 AM, early that morning, to check
the dead tree and brush pile.
Apparently, Logan and Will had returned after Bill left last evening.
They
had moved the 22 old tires, 18 on metal wheels, away from the dead
tree, which caught on fire last evening. Further, they had moved the
two branches, which fell from the dead tree, onto the brush pile.
Thank you, Logan
and Will, for your above-and-beyond service!
Bill's text included the following two
images:
The above, looking southwest, shows the
dead tree, tires and wheels, and part of the burnt brush pile.
Nothing was smoldering. Both fires had been out for several hours.
The above close-up image looks to the
east. What was left of the dead tree showed no signs of residual fire
or smoke. The fire was out.
Saturday Evening: The
Blazing Surprise!
Saturday evening settled into the usual
routine. My wife and I ate supper around 6 PM. Shortly thereafter,
Molly, our 11-year-young “puppy,” joined us in the living room.
Of course, Molly took her usual brief excursions outside. She and I
also played a couple of “got 'ems” games with her treats.
The television was tuned to something of mild interest.
Around 8:30 PM, my youngest brother
called but didn't leave a message. My wife couldn't pick up the phone
quickly enough to answer. At the time, I was taking Molly outside for
our evening “romp and stomp.” Roughly 30 minutes afterward, Molly
bedded down for the night in her basement “condominium.” I called
my youngest brother to find out why he had called.
The blazing surprise was that his
wife and he were at the homeplace and quenching the fire that had
blazed up in the dead tree! An across-the-road neighbor had
called him. Thankfully, the hoses and nozzle from yesterday were
still in place, and the water well pump was still on. I reached the
nearby volunteer fire department by phone. A firefighter drove up to
see if any help was needed. Fortunately, my youngest brother and
his wife had doused the blaze, and no additional help was needed.
Afterward, I turned on my cell phone to
discover missed calls and voicemails from two nearby neighbors. A
west-side neighbor had called at 8:05 PM. An across-the-road neighbor
had called at 8:15 PM.
My youngest brother and his wife stayed
for a while to ensure that the fire was completely out, after which
they returned home. Around 10:30 PM, I called to confirm that they
were back home safely.
The next afternoon, Sunday, I called
our two neighbors to thank them for calling last evening to report
the fire. One neighbor said that an intensely strong wind had blown
through the area around 8 PM last evening. The wind must have ignited
ashes at the base of the dead tree.
Conclusion
Lord willing, other future improvements
are in mind for the homeplace. The first plan to improve the yard has
been accomplished, despite the blazing surprise.
This Appalachian Irishman is thankful
for good neighbors, family, and friends. Further, I am grateful to
T&C Lawn Service for a job well done.
I am especially thankful to Bill, my
dear friend, who demonstrated true friendship. Last Wednesday,
3/11, I had planned to drive up to the homeplace. Bill was going to
meet me and help move the 22 old tires, 18 on metal wheels, from the
hay field to a better location in the backyard. Unfortunately, I
forgot about the need to stay home that day. I had arranged service
for our 2012 Sentra to replace the defective driver's-side power
window components. Early that morning, I had to call Bill to explain
and let him know that I would reschedule for another day.
What did Bill do to my pleasant
surprise? Alone, he moved the tires! He sent me the following two
photographs after he had moved them:
The above shows the tree stump and
what's left of the burn pile. The tires were gone!
The above image shows where Bill placed
the tires and wheels, neatly resting against a tree in the backyard.
Thank you so much, Bill. When you need my help, please call, and I
will come running! By the way, my wife is planning to make you some
no-bake cookies.
Lord willing, future improvements to
the homeplace will not include any more blazing surprises! Stay
tuned for further improvement updates, dear reader.
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