Some Things Have No Price Tag

Several days ago I was outside practicing my swing by whacking pine cones with me nine iron. Looking down the meadow valley I could see smoke bellowing up over the mountains. My first thought was, "I need a rake, this nine iron ain't doing a proper job of cleaning up the yard."

My neighbor Linda, who is a forest biologist said, "They're probably doing a controlled burn, and it got away from them."

I had been Googling satellite views of the area the night

before and had planed to go exploring up there for information on a story I'm working on. The next morning Sarah was whining to go for a drive (she loves to go exploring) so I grabbed the camera and we drove into town for supplies: coffee, half and half, brown sugar, tobacco, dog biscuits, and of course any news on the fire. We stopped by my friends Peter and Joann's for a short visit and I mentioned the fact that I didn't have a rake. While in the kitchen having coffee with Joann, Peter, dear man that he is, promptly found an old rake head and wielded a long length of pipe to it for a handle. He even sprayed painted it red! Dang! Am I blessed or what?

Driving home I decided to take a side road and check out how the "controlled burn" was coming along. Driving up the mountain I stopped to talk with a Forest Service crew. I introduced myself to Ben, a local who lives in Republic. He looked a little worried, but was very polite and answered all my questions.

It's a good feeling to know my countries forest are in the care of people like Ben. He's not the know-it-all college type with experience that only comes from books. I'm sure he, and others who work for the Forest Service take a lot of flack and judgemental criticism about the work they do.

Sarah and I drove home over the mountain and through the fire area. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. In fact, as control burns go, I would say, "Good Job" Ben, and those who are the guardians of our National Forests, "Thank You!"

As a side note, I did have to stop several times to pick up discarded trash left by people who have no respect for the natural beauty of our Mountains. The back of my pickup is full of: soda cans, beer cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles, etc. I know the Forest Service crews are not hired to do "Maid Service", neither am I. So remember to clean up your own shit that you bring to our mountain home, other wise your children will never be able to enjoy the beauty of this country. There are forces here that don't take kindly to human garbage and disrespect of nature. Yes, there are guardians that only locals are aware of. The kind of things most people only read about and hear stories of. So please, think twice before carelessly tossing that empty can, bottle, or plastic container...or well...lets just say, in these mountains of, big EYES, big EARS, and BIG TEETH of the mythical Sasquatches, werewolves, ghosts and spirits, and a horde of other terrifying beings to frightful to mention, litter bugs are sometimes never seen again. Burp!