The Back Yard: From Embarrassment to Tiki Bar

Mark it: It took eight days of bonfires -- and 10 giant contractor bags full of trash -- and our backyard embarrassment is gone. See above? That's the ash pile from the last night of burning, and beyond that, where you see the freshly roto-tilled swath of forest floor? That's where the 12-foot-high brush pile used to be. Some damn fine dirt under that brush pile, by the way; I already stole some for the garden.

No snakes were encountered. The only injury was to Mason's hair, eyebrows and eyelashes; my Pyro Man sometimes gets a bit too close to the fire. The hair was due for a trim anyway, but we had to cut it a bit shorter than usual to tend to the yellow, crispy ends.

In between our burning chores, I worked on our new backyard gathering area. Mason calls it the future tiki bar, but it's got a way to go still. Here's the preview:

In the rear left, you'll see our new firewood pile (Attention NYT readers: we're wild and crazy Tennesseans, so it's stacked bark up AND down). That's fresh firewood for next season, from trees we've taken down to clear room for the upcoming solar panels. Meanwhile, our firewood stockpile for this season might last us another five or six cold nights, so, yes, we might be back to scavenging until spring is in full swing.

And one final note. Spring is starting to sprout here on Flat Top. Redbud trees are already blooming in town, but here, we're just starting to see daffodils sprout and little green buds on shrubs. All that gray you see in the top photo? Give us four more weeks, and the same shot will be awash in green! Our giant maples are already budding out, and check out my cute little lungwort in the front bed: