2 posts tagged “country living”

Country living sounds pretty rough so far, doesn't it? Actually, it's not too bad; it's quiet, with few other than self-imposed interruptions.

It's not like it's an idyllic paradise -- there's work to be done, and not the kind that most city people are used to, but I'll get to that to that later.  However, there are some things you never want to see.   A 'wildfire'  is one of them.

My partner Verde and I were coming home from town on day earlier this Spring, and saw smoke on the horizon... not little wisps, but voluminous plumes... we both said: "This is not good."  We knew from the direction that it was not our house or barn, but it was still "not good."

As we got closer, and rounded a bend, we saw that a neighbors barn was on fire.  Verde pulled over, and called "911" on her cell.  The dispatcher told her that "It had been reported" and we resumed our progress homeward.  At this point I had no camera "with me."

When Verde Called 911, only the barn was on fire... when we parked the car at home, we saw that both our dogs had noticed the fire, and were worried... at this time sparks had lit the tall pasture grass.  I ran in to teh house to call 911 again, only at first to be disconnected.  Calling again, and receiving no 'Hello,' I recited my name and address and got an answer: "It's been turned in."

So, I got my camera:

Between '402 and '404, about 40 seconds elapsed -- about the amount of time it takes my Kodak DC 215 to 'cycle.'

At this point, no fire apparatus had arrived on the scene.  We were rather worried, as the wind was blowing the fire toward us.

Now I know how the folk out West feel...

This pic is looking about 90 degrees to the right of '404.  By now, Fire Apparatus was beginning to arrive, but the fire had already "jumped the road (actually, it went under a culvert.)"

You cannot see the fire now, as it is in a valley between our farm and the neighbors'.  Firefighters had now begun to arrive.  The line of trees in the right of the pic is our 'lane,' or driveway.

The barn is long gone.

The lights center right are fire apparatus.

At this point, I think the smoke threw the focus off on my camera.

Ok, that black stuff is 'mulch cloth,' we use it to suppress weeds .

Remember the 'lane?'  By this time, most of the red on the horizon is the lights of emergency vehicles.... we had about 5 fire trucks in the lane by now...

But it's not out yet

Here, for brushfires, they use a kinda modified pickup truck, with a water tank and a 'booster reel (spray hose).  Thinking of buying one for here -- seriously :)

OK, so... they stopped the fire about 200' from the house.  We are thankful... only about 60 acres burned.  Next time you hear of a 'Big Fire,' do please say a prayer, burn a candle... whatever is your path ...

I realize that I've not put any pics of people in this blog... that will come.  I prefer to catch people innocently off-guard rather than pose them... later, hope you enjoy !

Living in the country is entirely different than city life.  One has to be prepared for things that city folk seldom think about.  These pictures are from December 23, 2004, when South Central Ohio was hit by a massive ice storm.  My partner and I were in bed that night, listening to the sound of tree limbs snapping and cracking.  Over 200 of the power company's utility poles snapped, and we were without electricity for a week.  To us, that means no furnace, no stove and no water....  We do, however, have a nice fireplace, and plenty of firewood -- and kerosene lamps and heaters.  We were not cold, although it was a bit of a chore going down to the spring to get water.  The ground was a tad slippery.  Hot chocolate tastes better when it's made in the fireplace, anyway!  :)

In my OkCupid! profile they ask the "Six Most Important Things You Couldn't Live Without."  One of my answers was 'extra car batteries and inverters...'  So we were able to get on the interwebby thing using a notebook.  We could even do radio and TV.   We were prepared.  Many were not.  We heard a news story about someone who had "no heat, one gallon of water (the county water quit when their diesel generators ran out of fuel), one candle... and a baby."

SHAMELESS POLITICAL RANT: Our wonderful Republican Governor, Robert Taft was visiting Japan -- and didn't bother to even phone home.

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