Life is like a fire.

Nothing helps a person get around to doing a job like the newspaper announcing it will be illegal on May 1. In my mind, burning yard waste is men's work, but I don't know if my men are inclined to share my goals in the next 8 days. Since I had just spent the morning at a group service project feeding a fire a couple of weeks ago, I felt confident that I could tackle the task myself.

 I gathered my supplies and realized that although I had been associated with countless fires, I could not remember ever completing the process all by myself. Well, there's a first time for everything right? I had listened to the fire department's message for yard burning so I was ready to roll. And as I rolled I mused, because as countless songs and poems attest, life is like a fire:

1. Life is like a 4 year old box of strike-anywhere kitchen matches. It can be harder than it looks. I remember the TV commercials that showed children playing with a match, lighting it, tossing it on the ground and starting the whole forest burning.  Not to disrespect the danger of  forest fires, but what the heck? Fifteen matches later, I got 4 to light and two to start a flame serious enough to make a contribution.

2. Life is like a dry pine cone. Sometimes we think something just looks pretty and then we discover that it also burns like nobody's business...like it has practical value too.

3. Life is like a dry juniper branch. Those little prickles act all big and bad, sparking and burning and raining down fire, and then they don't.

4. Life is like wind. Too much can blow out your flame but just the right amount makes the flame grow, unless it blows the sparks out of the ring then I guess that would be too much.

4. Life is like a missing brick in your fire ring. It doesn't seem like a barrier is a big deal until the fire sneaks out of the ring and starts devouring  nearby dead leaves and pine needles. Fix the holes.

5. Life is like a stick that is too long. Burning inside the boundaries-good. Burning outside the boundaries-bad.

6. Life is like a wood pile, if you're careful and keep an eye out and pray, you probably won't get bitten by a copperhead snake. (I didn't even see one. I'm just always afraid that I will.)

7. Life is like smoke. Smoke stinks and if you're in it you'll stink too, even if you think you don't.

8. Life is like burning while your neighbors are at work. Do your annoying stuff while everyone's gone, then they'll still smile and wave when they drive by.

9. Life is like gloves. You think you don't need them, you think you'll be fine, but protecting the only body you have is always a good idea. Brush piles have surprises.

10. Life is like a bucket of water. "Man is the only creature that dares to light a fire and live with it. The reason? Because he alone has learned to put it out." Henry Jackson Vandyke, Jr.

"To poke a wood fire is more solid enjoyment than almost anything else in the world." Charles Dudley Warner