Lighting the piles (it seems simple enough)
One of the songs which we sing here at Esfuerzo Magdiel (actually, one that I really don’t care for), is a song which has a bridge which repeats the phrase “quema” “quema” “quema” in reference to the Holy Spirit – he brings a burning in or lives.
Today I thought about that song as Javier and I worked for hours to beat out grass fires and struggled against 107° F temperatures and an increasingly developing wind.
It all began simple enough. We were going to burn off the old, dead piles of grass and bagasse, or sugarcane stocks from the field. We began at a reasonable hour, and expected to spend about two hours at the landsite. All went very well in the beginning. We were very much aware that there was a mature sugarcane field to the one side of us, and that everything was absolutely tinder dry. However, we had a gently breeze at
Well contained, and controlled burning
our back, and a very well defined roadway between us and the mature crop.
We were pretty much finished and were having our coffee break when I noticed that the fire had gotten away at the far end of the field – the sneaky hotspots had fooled us and the flames were heading into the trees.
Fortunately the conflagration which resulted from this was contained in an area of garbage trees along the hedgerow which needed to come out anyway. But it suddenly cranked everything up into high gear for us. Forget coffee break – let’s get these fires out.
Should be an easy day
Javier and I cut palm branches and beat flames until I simply could not beat any more. The harder we worked, the more the sneaky little things flamed again. The hotter the day became, the stronger the wind grew.
All ended well, and there was no negative results except that I ended up puncturing the sidewall of the van tire on a stump.
The field is beautifully clear of garbage now – much more so than
Oops!!
we ever intended.
Tomorrow the disking begins. Then more pulverizing, and then we pray for good rains this year.
Palm Branches and burning eyes
It has been a long day. I am off to bed.
