middleblog-a suburban babble brook book

Creeping Crud

This is the second time in a month I've contracted an allergic reaction to something in the back yard...and both times, on my face.  Last time, it caused a swelling so severe that I visited my emergency room, an act of pure desperation for me.  This bout is less dramatic, so far, but it does look like I'm growing a third cheekbone.  Such is the price of country living.

We constructed a large fire pit of concrete blocks yesterday and proceeded to burn a vast assortment of wooden furniture and scraps.  It's interesting how great piles of eyesore are transfigured into leaping, crackling flames, embers rippling with combustion, and ultimately less than 10 pounds of powdery grey ash.