I took yesterday off. You might have noticed.
Yesterday was a crazy day. We woke up bright and early to take Joanie, our only female cat, to get fixed. Then we went to Michigan to get an allergy treatment for myself. It took its toll on me. I was feeling nauseous and tired the rest of the day, so that is why I didn't post.
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On Sunday afternoon I was out burning my trash. That's something us country folk are allowed to do. The brush around the trash area was very dry. If you would step back and look, you would see that the brush runs all the way from the burn pile to the fallen barn. It still has a lot of good and useful wood, so we don't want to get rid of it yet. Anyway, the brush caught on fire. I watched it for about three minutes thinking that it would just burn itself out and quit spreading. What a moron! Needless to say, within five minutes I ran into the house and tried to call my brother for help. The phone was busy. Then I ran outside, was happy that I hadn't put my hose back last time I used it, and turned on the spicket. I rounded up some buckets and the fun began. For the next half hour I was making trips from the end of the house to the burning brush with buckets splishing and sploshing all over my legs. The first ten minutes of the half hour I was running. The next twenty minutes I was complaining about how out of shape I am. Needless to say, the barn did not burn down. The brush only burned about a 1/3 of the way there. I was successful. However, I wouldn't want to do it again.
Here is the moral of this story - something I also learned in my days at Solomon's Porch (the first phase of the church plant in Lansing). Deal with problems quickly. If you don't, they will grow and grow. At some point they grow so large that they aren't even able to be dealt with. However, the longer you wait to deal with them, the harder it is to deal with them. I have never seen a problem just blow over in a healthy way. Every problem needs dealt with. The earlier the better.
Watch out for the potholes.
