Flashback Friday #64

Burning the Trash

Hello, and welcome back to another look at once was. Grab yourself a chair and huddle around the fire that I'm kindling in the minds eye, for fire is the topic of the day.

When I was younger (30-35 years ago), nobody thought twice about outdoor burning. Everyone where we lived did it. Everyone had a burn barrel or burn pile. Now days, not so much.

We had both. What ever didn't fit into the barrel, was put on the pile and ignited. I can remember roasting marshmallows and hot dogs over burning furniture. Many a couch, chair or mattress went up in smoke after ending it's usefulness. When it went to the pile, you knew it wasn't any good anymore, because we didn't have the money to constantly replace stuff. It was kind of like the old Jeff Foxworthy joke around our house. "If that's still there at midnight, it's in my living room".

We used the burn barrel mostly for burning trash. It's amazing how much fun a boy can have while doing his chores, especially if it includes setting something on fire. Mom always told me that if I played in the fire, I would wet the bed (maybe that was one of her superstitions). I always played in, and around the fire. here are some of my favorite things to find in the trash:

Catsup bottles: We were too poor to use ketchup. We always got the cheap catsup in the glass bottles. When I would find one in the trash, I would loosen the lid, and set the bottle upright. The heat created pressure in the bottle, and the lid would shoot off into the air, 10-12 feet.

Aerosol cans: I know it says right on the can "Do Not Incinerate", but who hasn't tossed one into the fire to see what happens. Hair spray cans were the best. I've seen cans explode and fly 20 feet in the air. I've also seen the blow a hole in a rusty burn barrel. Only once did I burn the trash without looking for aerosol cans. When the can exploded, it scared the bejebers out of me. After that, I was very diligent about checking first.

Women's magazines: Whenever Mom got rid of any Better Homes & Gardens, Redbook, or Good Housekeeping (which wasn't, and still isn't very often), I had a field day with them. Do you know how many paper airplane you can make out of one of those? Not only did I make paper airplanes out of them, most times I would catch the planes on fire before I launched them. A flaming airplane will stay up longer than you think. I also would put firecrackers in them before lighting them (a post dealing with firecrackers is due in the future).

I realize now just how dangerous some of the things I did with fire was. When I was young, I was invincible, a stance that many kids have. I caught my oldest playing with matches when she was about seven, and I wanted to show her just how dangerous that could be. We had a couch that was totally worn out, and we were going to get rid of it. I took it to Dad's and put it on the burn pile with my kids watching at a safe distance. I lit a match and dropped it on the old couch. Within two minutes the couch was engulfed in flames. I then sat down and had a very frank discussing about the dangers of playing with fire. I think the demonstration spoke louder that I ever could.

Did you ever play with fire? If so, did you get burned?