The last weekend in April is our last weekend of brushpile burns until fall so we wanted to make the most of it. We did, with another good group at McMahon Saturday, including Oak Lawn HS students Austin and O'Ryan. Two more big fires - the first one started up so quickly you'd have thought accelerant was involved, but it wasn't. Just dry fuel, and a favorable wind; maybe John and Carolyn had a special mojo working that day as well.
Most of the team hauled logs and brush to our pair of big blazes while Doug, Jim and Kevin cut more, with brushcutter and chainsaws respectively. The ground was dry enough to warrant extra caution, at least 'til late morning when the first of several rounds of showers moved in.
Hidden Pond Woods Sunday April 30
Our ability to work Sunday was very much in question due Saturday's rain, predicted to continue into Sunday afternoon. Three weeks earlier we cut numerous stacks of brush that couldn't be burned then, due to low humidity, and didn't want to leave it lying about until fall.
The weather deities heard our entreaties and kept conditions dry until past 10:00 am, when we had a good fire going and much of the fuel already loaded. We got more brush cut and burned by quitting time, with one more quick round of rain. We also managed to scatter some seed, collected last fall, in one of our previous work areas. It was another satisfying and productive day, thanks to the diligence and great spirit of our volunteers.