Burn Pile, Part IV

Cold, unsettled—snowing and then clear (low 30s)

Oh ha ha, I am such a nerd. I just noticed that today’s burn pile roman numeral spells “ivy,” which is what the burn pile was ALL ABOUT today. See, the ivy wraps itself around the lumber and the branches, making a clump of stuff that you couldn’t possibly lift. I spent much of the day raking the ivy into little balls, and placing them on the fire, feeling like it wasn’t making a bit of difference in uncovering the wood. Adding to this, I had to start the fire in a blizzard, which only lasted about five minutes, but was still blizzardy.

Frustrations aside, it was a good day. The sky cleared after the wee blizzard, and Carlo brought the tractor down to move some ivy. A bunch of people dropped by to visit camp, and it was fun to hob-nob with them while watching the pile burn.

Last night, after the torrential evening rain, things cleared up, and the moon made a brilliant path across Slanty’s windows. Although the temperature dropped, and Slanty wasn’t the warmest cabin in the world, I fell asleep after looking out the window at Orion, curled up in my down comforter, and felt pretty content.