The National Weather Service used a term on Friday that I’d never heard before: “rapid-onset drought.” We’re not yet classified even as “abnormally dry” here in Marion County, but more dire conditions are inching closer. It’s reasonable to predict that our official status will change when the next Drought Monitor is published on Thursday.
Arkansas Forestry issued its last wildfire-danger map of the work week mid-afternoon. It showed 12 counties operating under burn bans.
While cruising Facebook before turning in Friday evening, I saw that nearby Flippin had issued its own municipal ban.
Gassville, across The Mighty White, followed suit, along with several other Baxter County jurisdictions.
I found no such announcement from Yellville. Even if I had, a city burn ban doesn’t apply to The Mountain — it’s outside municipal limits, or, in the vernacular, “out in the townships.” My neighbors and I would be bound only by a county-wide ban.
That said, the handwriting is on the wall.
I’d collected little in the way of combustibles since my last burn a few days ago. The modest pile got a boost around 2pm Friday, when a box containing a 30-pound bag of dog food landed on the stoop. At that point, then, I could justify a fire in the burn barrel.
It’d still be something of an experiment. What I had to incinerate would be only 15% of a full load, maybe less than that, but it should tell me how efficient my new barrel is.
Sunrise yesterday was 6:30am. It was dead calm on The Mountain, muggy as hell. I tiptoed down the driveway toward the lower level (no need for the Ranger with so little to burn), hoping to catch that familiar grazing doe — and sure enough, when I turned the corner she was munching on grass in the wood yard.
She scampered off. I loaded the barrel and lit my trash, both at the bottom and at the top.
It drafted stunningly well.
How well? The image below should answer that question.
Keep in mind that’s only one corrugated-cardboard box and about three handfuls of paper packaging. It burned strong, quickly and completely.
Two minutes later, the fire was all but out. And I’d disposed of my accumulated combustibles ahead of the inevitable burn ban.
I think I have the whole barrel thing pretty much sorted. I’m damned proud of this one.
There’s much work to be done on The Mountain. The cabin in particular has a long way to go before it’s finished (if it ever is).
If a project requires little more than time and effort, it’ll get done. For example, I believe I have all the materials I’ll need to build a “propane shed” and an enclosure for the water heater before winter comes. I think I can protect the most vulnerable drain lines from freezing temperatures, too.
Completing both tasks may mean buying cement board, but not very much and it’s relatively inexpensive. Maybe a little hardware.
All of the routine “groundskeeping” ’round here is well within reach. Likewise harvesting and processing firewood. As long as I’m able to maintain and fuel the Ranger and my saws, that stuff demands only commitment and sweat.
Beyond that, I’ll be living the way I am now for the foreseeable future. “Progress,” such as it is, will be slow. I’ll set my objectives by month, season and year. My mantra, of necessity, will be “cheap, free, patient.”
And that’s fine with me. There’s no place else I’d rather be, no life I’d rather live.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable