On Saturday afternoon, I fulfilled a long-held dream. I lit the pond shore on fire.

No, quarantine is not making me crazy. Yes, we have interesting ways of passing the time here at the farm.

To recap:

1. The pond is my absolute favourite place on this property.
2. By mid-summer, we can’t get to the pond because the grass and brush is so overgrown.
3. Every year I have plans to clear the pond shore.
4. Every year I make very little progress.

That is the story of the pond that I have shared publicly.

Secretly I’ve been thinking for years about clearing the shore with fire.

There are the practical concerns, like not lighting the whole farm on fire. But nothing is as fast as fire for making a clean slate.

This burn took about an hour–one toddler naptime. And I did in fact manage to not light the whole farm on fire.

There’s still more to do. Saplings to clip. Rocks to pick. Firepit to finish. Dock to build… someday.

But I should be able to mow a decent area once the grass starts to grow again. And maybe, maybe in a few months the shore will be green, quarantine will be over, and we’ll be able to walk down and sit by the water.

I hope that you are all doing well and are keeping busy and staying safe. Take care.