I was sitting in my sunroom, sowing the last group of seeds into the seedling rack, (tomatoes, dill, rosemary, and more broccoli, for the curious) when I received an interesting phone call from my dad.
"Good thing the wind is blowing away from your house today."
"Why?"
"Because today is prairie-burning day for the Park."
Needless to say, I dropped everything I was doing, grabbed my bike, and headed up the street.
See, every year, the Hinckley Reservation (which surrounds my property) conducts a controlled burn-off of their prairie restoration habitat. This kind of maintenance is necessary to keep new growth coming in, and to protect the habitat from invasive plants.
The prairie is only a mile up the street from me, so I decided I wanted to see the Great Hinckley Prairie Fire for myself.
The smoke and heat were impressive, and the amount of fire personnel on the scene - also impressive. It was clear that every precaution was being taken to contain the fire.
Ironically, I had walked Willow past the prairie just yesterday, and almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the aftermath. What a change from less than 24 hours ago.
As an added bonus, I found this sitting at the end of my driveway as I pulled in from my little adventure. Maybe it's a threat from some enemy I don't know I have? Either way, I thought it was kinda neat, so I left it sitting ominously near the garage for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment