FIRE ON THE FOURTH

Did you celebrate July Fourth by enjoying fireworks? We celebrated, too, but with the real thing: a fire! It wasn’t just any old fire, mind you. It was a flame-shooting, branch-crackling, smoke-belching, neighbor-roasting bonfire – and it burned for two days!

Not only was it a special fire but it marked an exciting occasion we were celebrating. It was our first visit to the 9.8 acre country property our younger son Joel had purchased last fall. So, on Independence Day, we celebrated with him his independence from paying rent to someone else and his freedom to manage property himself instead of just complaining to a landlord!

It was a special fire, an exciting occasion, and we definitely celebrated in a unique way. No picnic or backyard barbeque; no cold lemonade; no family outing to the community swimming pool on our Fourth of July. Instead, we worked like fools on July 3, 4, and 5!

Bruce manned the large weed-eater, the powerful mower and tended the holiday bonfire. He pulled up poison ivy by the bagfuls, whacked down jungles of head-high weeds, mowed off the meadow where our 5^th wheel was parked and kept a close eye on the roaring fire to see that it didn’t melt the overhead utility wires! Stiff shoulder muscles, tired legs and one hornet sting were his reward for a job well done!

Mary Sue pulled weeds – more than five wheelbarrows full – from the flower beds and yard on the side of the house! (The front and back yards are even weedier!) There were dandelions everywhere – some with roots bigger around than a thumb – huge leaves of dock weed, volunteer tree shoots, clover a foot high, and many other nameless and noxious plants competing with the grass Joel has recently planted. Pulling weeds for five or six hours on three consecutive days barely made a dent in the alien invasion of the side yard but it certainly had an effect on shoulder and back muscles, knees, hips and thumbs!

While we kept busy at these routine tasks of property clearing, Joel got into the skilled work on his little house. It fit the description of a "handyman’s special" when he bought it. But since October, 2008, he has replaced the septic system, installed an access line for public water supply, gutted and re-built the bathroom, installed a high efficiency wood stove, and established a laundry in the tiny basement of the house.

His current task was to replace the roof, which he had almost finished with the help of some friends. He chose to install metal roofing for durability, but it’s a real challenge. The high part of the roof has a very steep pitch and the lower roofs have such sharp slopes of the lower roofs leave no place to stand securely. On Saturday he finished all the roofing work he could do alone because neither of us would volunteer to go up there and help him!

The next morning we returned to clearing land while Joel and a friend felled a large dead insect-infested pine tree near the house. By noon, the pine-borers that had killed that tree were being cremated in our holiday bonfire!

After lunch, I took my usual siesta while the men went back to work. Joel’s friend had generously volunteered to help him finish the roof. By the time I returned to weed-puling, the roof was done, the friend had returned home, and our holiday fire was reduced to a rosy glow of embers.

That night at supper, Bruce showed me the pictures he had taken of the finishing phase of the roofing project. Joel had placed a folding ladder across the high peak, folded so it extended down on both sides. Then Joel and his friend had securely tied themselves together with a rope, one on each side of the roof peak. They both held onto the ladder for stability and, while Joel finished the roofing, his friend provided counter-weight to hold him securely in place! The finished roof looks great – but I’m glad I slept through that final stage of the roof replacement! I do now understand, however, why we bought a life insurance policy on him!

Four days of such hard work and excitement was all we old folks could take. So we – and our stiff aching muscles – are off to Pennsylvania for a family reunion.

We hope you had an exciting Fourth of July, too!

The Pilgrim Pair,

Bruce and MarySue

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