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jaeleslie at 10:18am on 14/04/2004
jaeleslie at 10:18am on 14/04/2004The other thing that has been playing hell with the household schedule lately is the spring season for prairie burns. Mr S is sort of on call to go out with the Nature Conservancy crews, sometimes DNR, sometimes a bunch of burn enthusiasts out by Black Earth, etc, especially on weekends. But sometimes they pass the word for a burn during the week, and we have to shuffle around the chauffeuring duties for the day. Call us Volunteers of America.
Problem is that burning prairie is at least as sensitive to the weather as the snow-shoveling season. What looks like a gorgeous day in the forecast (and in fact right at the moment), this morning became considerably more uncertain with the news that Crawford County might not allow burning today. That might be because of the excessively dry conditions we have in the southern part of the state, or the wind kicking up. But it looks like they are driving out anyway, most of the way to the Mississippi River, to see if they can burn out by Steuben, just north of the Wisconsin River.
Mr S is one of those people who shifts smoothly into high gear almost as soon as he gets out of bed. He has also had years of training with blue collar people -- when you work in support or supervisory positions with working folk, you have to be on the job already at seven when they punch in. On the other hand people who usually work in what we call Carpetland tend to roll out a bit later, and show up later, and then have a meeting or two, so some days he says the whole burn crew might be still Out Standing In The Field at one in the afternoon waiting to get started. This makes a very long day. About the time working people are punching out after eight hours, and moms are hitting the road to pick up their kids, they are in the thick of it.
The work is also physically demanding. I for one am not in any condition to hike up and down bluffs for hours on end hauling water canisters on my back to tend the line. They'll keep at it until dark, and then there's a long drive home. He gets back late, smelling like hickory smoked bacon, eats a leftover dinner or a sandwich, maybe catches the late news, throws everything in the wash, and falls into bed.
But I suppose I should point out, maintaining the prairie by burning at the proper time is a very cool thing to do. The rest of the year when you walk through the fields that have been taken care of, you can tell the areas that have been burnt where the new growth comes up easily through the black and the areas next to them where the dry grass and brush are building up. When we were in North Australia the management areas for burns were enormous. Here they are little handkerchief-sized fields, most of which have been plowed at some time, scalped of native growth, and all of them were logged. The roads and fences and property lines all around make controlling the fire a demanding art.
Problem is that burning prairie is at least as sensitive to the weather as the snow-shoveling season. What looks like a gorgeous day in the forecast (and in fact right at the moment), this morning became considerably more uncertain with the news that Crawford County might not allow burning today. That might be because of the excessively dry conditions we have in the southern part of the state, or the wind kicking up. But it looks like they are driving out anyway, most of the way to the Mississippi River, to see if they can burn out by Steuben, just north of the Wisconsin River.
Mr S is one of those people who shifts smoothly into high gear almost as soon as he gets out of bed. He has also had years of training with blue collar people -- when you work in support or supervisory positions with working folk, you have to be on the job already at seven when they punch in. On the other hand people who usually work in what we call Carpetland tend to roll out a bit later, and show up later, and then have a meeting or two, so some days he says the whole burn crew might be still Out Standing In The Field at one in the afternoon waiting to get started. This makes a very long day. About the time working people are punching out after eight hours, and moms are hitting the road to pick up their kids, they are in the thick of it.
The work is also physically demanding. I for one am not in any condition to hike up and down bluffs for hours on end hauling water canisters on my back to tend the line. They'll keep at it until dark, and then there's a long drive home. He gets back late, smelling like hickory smoked bacon, eats a leftover dinner or a sandwich, maybe catches the late news, throws everything in the wash, and falls into bed.
But I suppose I should point out, maintaining the prairie by burning at the proper time is a very cool thing to do. The rest of the year when you walk through the fields that have been taken care of, you can tell the areas that have been burnt where the new growth comes up easily through the black and the areas next to them where the dry grass and brush are building up. When we were in North Australia the management areas for burns were enormous. Here they are little handkerchief-sized fields, most of which have been plowed at some time, scalped of native growth, and all of them were logged. The roads and fences and property lines all around make controlling the fire a demanding art.