Springtime in the hills
24/04/16 05:25
In typical South Dakota fashion we went from spring to summer in a single day yesterday. The temperature was very close to 80 degrees in the late morning and I forgot my water bottle and regretted it for splitting wood. I came home and drank a couple of glasses of water to restore myself. Then I waited until late afternoon to mow the lawn just to avoid a bit of the heat. In the summer I often mow the lawn after supper in the evening. There is plenty of light and the temperatures are cooler. I nearly ran out of light last night, but things don’t look too bad out there. I’m a bit behind the curve with yard work this year. It seems like our “on again, off again” spring doesn’t always line up with days when I have time for yard work.
This being South Dakota, of course, the forecast is calling for the possibility of snow on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week, though it is unlikely that there will be even an inch of accumulation. Perhaps the snow and colder temperatures will help to counter the dry conditions in the woods.
We could see the smoke plume from a fire burning about 15 miles from our home as we drove from town yesterday afternoon. The fire crews are already getting an early workout. According to the Great Plains Fire Information web site the fire has been named Storm Hill fire. Flames were clearly visible from the corner where highways 385 and 16 meet at three corners and the road into Hill City from the east was closed over night. There are some pretty good pictures of the fire on the web site.
The place where the fire is burning has a lot of dead trees that were killed by pine bark beetles. I’m sure that they provide a lot of fuel and add to the complications of fighting the fire.
It seems like it might be a long summer for firefighters. They were battling not only the flames and rigged terrain, but also the heat of the day. Waiting for a cooler time wasn’t an option for them, though I’m sure that there were ground crews working through the night establishing lines around the fire.
It has taken us a long time to begin to understand the role of fire in the life cycle of the forest. I grew up straining my eyes looking for fires. My father flew fire patrol in a light airplane over Yellowstone Park several days a week. I often was allowed to go along on the flights and remember learning to look right at the horizon for smoke plumes. It was assumed that fires needed to be put out and that early detection, while they were small, was the key to keeping the forest alive. My father was proud of the fire record established in the 25 years that he flew patrol. Then, after he had died, in 1988 and 1989, the fires that came to Yellowstone were huge and nearly impossible to fight. Great sections of trees were consumed in fires that were impossible to fight. Despite extensive bulldozer lines only the coming of winter snows finally extinguished the ’88 fires. Putting out every small fire wasn’t the best forest management plan.
On the other hand, the hills are now occupied by lots of houses and other buildings. And many of them are scattered in the trees. Allowing fires to burn quickly threatens homes and the infrastructure that supports our living in the forest. Its a tough balance to maintain. Our attempts at working with fire by starting controlled burns in particular areas has only been partially successful. We’ve seen a few “controlled burns” burn out of control and fires spread in unintended ways. Even with a lot of modern fire information the behavior of fires is unpredictable and conditions can change with every shift of wind or change in the temperature.
Today won’t allow time for yard work in our household. We are hosting our Conference Minister at worship this morning. Two organizations upon whose boards I’ve served, The Black Hills Chamber Music Society and Bells of the Hills are holding concerts this afternoon and the Black Hills Association of the United Church of Christ meets in Edgemont. Obviously that’s more events than one person can attend, so we’ll be going two different directions in different cars today. There’s nothing new about that. It has been our lifestyle for long enough that it all seems pretty normal.
The busyness of our lives is minor when compared to the lives of the folks in our congregation. There is at least one wild lands fire specialist who will probably be out on the fire lines today. Another family has members out of town traveling with a son’s soccer team. Another family is deep into plans for a weeding next week. The snow birds are back in South Dakota and we’re already gearing up for tourist season, when many of us welcome guests into our homes as family and friends come to the hills for the same beauty and tranquility that attracted us to live here in the first place. There is plenty to see and do and it is a joy to live in a place that others like to visit.
Of course what is appealing about the hills is not the intense activity and running around. This is a place for quiet contemplation, for sitting still and watching the birds build their nests, for paddling on a reservoir and listening the the quiet, for taking a long walk and feeling the wind on your cheeks. The hills are best enjoyed at a very slow pace with time to just sit and listen. Sometimes we clutter our lives with so much activity that we don’t take full advantage of the place where we live.
So I treasure the moments to sit on my deck in the evening and just listen to the hills. I enjoy the opportunity to just go outside and breathe the air. And I resolve to slow down just a bit and pay a bit more attention as I enter this new season. That, of course, is easier said than done.
This being South Dakota, of course, the forecast is calling for the possibility of snow on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week, though it is unlikely that there will be even an inch of accumulation. Perhaps the snow and colder temperatures will help to counter the dry conditions in the woods.
We could see the smoke plume from a fire burning about 15 miles from our home as we drove from town yesterday afternoon. The fire crews are already getting an early workout. According to the Great Plains Fire Information web site the fire has been named Storm Hill fire. Flames were clearly visible from the corner where highways 385 and 16 meet at three corners and the road into Hill City from the east was closed over night. There are some pretty good pictures of the fire on the web site.
The place where the fire is burning has a lot of dead trees that were killed by pine bark beetles. I’m sure that they provide a lot of fuel and add to the complications of fighting the fire.
It seems like it might be a long summer for firefighters. They were battling not only the flames and rigged terrain, but also the heat of the day. Waiting for a cooler time wasn’t an option for them, though I’m sure that there were ground crews working through the night establishing lines around the fire.
It has taken us a long time to begin to understand the role of fire in the life cycle of the forest. I grew up straining my eyes looking for fires. My father flew fire patrol in a light airplane over Yellowstone Park several days a week. I often was allowed to go along on the flights and remember learning to look right at the horizon for smoke plumes. It was assumed that fires needed to be put out and that early detection, while they were small, was the key to keeping the forest alive. My father was proud of the fire record established in the 25 years that he flew patrol. Then, after he had died, in 1988 and 1989, the fires that came to Yellowstone were huge and nearly impossible to fight. Great sections of trees were consumed in fires that were impossible to fight. Despite extensive bulldozer lines only the coming of winter snows finally extinguished the ’88 fires. Putting out every small fire wasn’t the best forest management plan.
On the other hand, the hills are now occupied by lots of houses and other buildings. And many of them are scattered in the trees. Allowing fires to burn quickly threatens homes and the infrastructure that supports our living in the forest. Its a tough balance to maintain. Our attempts at working with fire by starting controlled burns in particular areas has only been partially successful. We’ve seen a few “controlled burns” burn out of control and fires spread in unintended ways. Even with a lot of modern fire information the behavior of fires is unpredictable and conditions can change with every shift of wind or change in the temperature.
Today won’t allow time for yard work in our household. We are hosting our Conference Minister at worship this morning. Two organizations upon whose boards I’ve served, The Black Hills Chamber Music Society and Bells of the Hills are holding concerts this afternoon and the Black Hills Association of the United Church of Christ meets in Edgemont. Obviously that’s more events than one person can attend, so we’ll be going two different directions in different cars today. There’s nothing new about that. It has been our lifestyle for long enough that it all seems pretty normal.
The busyness of our lives is minor when compared to the lives of the folks in our congregation. There is at least one wild lands fire specialist who will probably be out on the fire lines today. Another family has members out of town traveling with a son’s soccer team. Another family is deep into plans for a weeding next week. The snow birds are back in South Dakota and we’re already gearing up for tourist season, when many of us welcome guests into our homes as family and friends come to the hills for the same beauty and tranquility that attracted us to live here in the first place. There is plenty to see and do and it is a joy to live in a place that others like to visit.
Of course what is appealing about the hills is not the intense activity and running around. This is a place for quiet contemplation, for sitting still and watching the birds build their nests, for paddling on a reservoir and listening the the quiet, for taking a long walk and feeling the wind on your cheeks. The hills are best enjoyed at a very slow pace with time to just sit and listen. Sometimes we clutter our lives with so much activity that we don’t take full advantage of the place where we live.
So I treasure the moments to sit on my deck in the evening and just listen to the hills. I enjoy the opportunity to just go outside and breathe the air. And I resolve to slow down just a bit and pay a bit more attention as I enter this new season. That, of course, is easier said than done.