I love fall. I can feel it coming, can't you? This is the burning barrel from my parents' house. Fall reminds me of burning barrels and crackling leaves and that one time that Pa killed a possum with a pitchfork and almost broke his hand. The possum ended up in the burning barrel where I looked at its mean little hard body. Ah, good times.
Grandpa had a burning barrel, too, and when the wind was right, I could walk out the front door and smell the fire right away. Then I'd see the little plume of smoke coming from his barrel and know that everything was OK.
Ma says things on the phone like, "Today is a good day to burn." She knows when the wind is right and when it will be safe to get rid of some garbage or some old twigs. I've lived in cities where such things are illegal for so long that I often get jealous at the thought of taking out all of my old receipts and bank statements and lighting them up.
I had an ex back in high school and the beginning of college who was a HUGE trouble maker. He had this little addiction to alcohol and, you know, heroin. He sent me about a thousand letters from his rehab center. I used to get 3 a day. After we broke up, I came home from school and took every single letter out to that burning barrel. I threw in all the goofy stuffed animals and other crap he'd given me over the years. I kept 2 or 3 pictures to put in my special memory box, but that was it.
So the burning barrel holds a lot of memories for me. Like, "Stay back, little Blondie, that's hot!" and "Dude, what is that dead thing in your burning barrel?" and "It's a good day to burn."
Yes, my friends, it is a good day to burn. No, Latina, I don't mean literally. Don't worry about me. I just mean figuratively. Burn away all the bad things. Get rid of all that extra paper. Just sit outside and smell the seasons changing and the earth getting ready for a new season. Mother Earth is ready for a change--and so am I.
8 comments:
That burning barrel looks kind of small. Our was a 55-gallon metal drum. When I was a kid, we burned all our trash. Occasionally an aerosol can would end up in there and explode loudly when it got hot enough.
I made the mistake of touching the burning barrel once when it was still hot. Turns out, that's a mistake you only make once.
Now you've made me want to start a fire! Not quite cold enough yet for the fireplace, though....
Are possums mean?
Why is it that disposing of stuff from ex's by fire so satisfying? When I was dumped by my son's father I opened up the doors of my wood-burning stove and put every single photograph (save one... I kept one for my son), memento, dried flowers, cards, letters, everything in that fire and lit a match.
I want a burning barrel!
amen.
burning parts of your past can be so therapudic.
one of the many trees outside my house turned overnight from green to a deep orange. i woke up thrilled. :) there's nothing like fall in new england.
About the oppossom: I was afraid he was going to bite Pa. It was a matter of self defense.
The sun is still shining and the air conditioning still running today. I look eagerly at the brown corn in the field south of us, longing to see the men harvesting in the combine. Autumn is just around the corner in Iowa too.
Soon it will be the traditional homecoming gala events in our town and you will be flying home to see high school friends.
Hurry home, daughter!
I've got a burning barrel. Use it all year round to burn paper trash. In fact, I'm having my next-door neighbor weld me up a new and improved model this fall.
Fall has always been my favorite time of the year with Halloween, turning leaves and deer season:)
I say it too often how your writing makes me miss my hometown. Beautiful talent you have indeed. :)
About the burning barrel, it is about the same volume and shape as a 55 gallon drum but is is made of 1/8 inch thick stainless steel. As it is pictured, it is about 25 years old and has been used as a burning barrel for 15 years. The regular steel variety usually lasts three or four years then rusts into oblivion.
It once held the iron oxide coating to be applied to 16" diameter computer hard disks. I bought it as surplus from a former employer shortly before they went into oblivion.
Blondie's Dad
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