November 11, 2013. Harper, Texas. A Last Fire.

We burn our trash, both here at the ranch and at the farm.   This afternoon, while it was still warm at the ranch, Ken built a fire.   We brought all the trash down from the Top House, which wasn't much, but when I opened the garbage cans by the garage of the ranch house, I discovered four cans full of stuff left over from the 55th.    It seems that just as the tasks from the 55th are over, more pops up to take it's place.    Ken built a small fire, for a small amount of paper trash.  Instead he had ten bags of trash that have been sitting for a month. awaiting his fire.

But it was fun watching the trash burn.   We laughed as the 4 stale lunch boxes melted and the sandwiches finally burned.  They took ages to burn.   We saw many water bottles melt, the same ones that were supposed to be put in the blue round bin.  And we laughed about that too.   We burned all the foodstuff that would not freeze well.   They took a long time to first dry and then burn.  I spotted my shoes in the fire, the shoes that fell apart when we were out to dinner at Karen and Jacques.   As each bag was put on the fire, we were reminded about the joys of the celebration.

Tomorrow the weather will be a cool 50 degrees F. during the day, and Wednesday afternoon we drive to the lake, so this afternoon was the last fire of the year at the ranch.   But that fire held many happy memories.