Wednesday, October 19, 2011

I'll Bring the Marshmallows

I was driving away from a client's house when I noticed smoke rising up above her home!  I immediately called the client to tell her, and in response she calmly stated, "Thank you."  A few days later I went to her house and I couldn't help but ask about the fire.  Surely it was a huge, dangerous fire that I notified her about that day! I was relieved everything was ok, but I couldn't wait to get the details!

She replied with the statement that I have been hearing all too often:  "You're not from here, are you sweetie?"  Here we go again.....

Turns out,  the fire and smoke was coming from a burn pile.  I smiled and awkwardly laughed with her (while she was laughing AT me) and then immediately researched what the heck a burn pile was.  I contacted AlliBama's Resident Southern Expert (ARSE), David, for more information.  In summary, here is his response:

There are a few ways to look at it:
1.  If you have a whole bunch of leaves and brush from your yard because you just cut a bunch down, you can burn em.
2.  If you don't have trash service where you live, you can burn em.
3.  Bringing trash to the dump requires a truck and a hefty fee.  So if you are cheap/unable to afford it, you can burn em.

He then added, "I know people that burn everything, but my parents just burn brush and limbs.  Makes for a good bonfire.  One day we'll take you to Albertville and we can show you both."

I can't wait for my tour of burn piles in David's hometown.  Contact me if you are interested.  I'll bring the marshmallows.