Sunday, 01 November 2009 21:21
I know already that this is going to turn out to be one of those blog titles that ends up having nothing to do with the actual content of the entry itself. I couldn't resist however, since we're helpless Anglophiles and--as all you lovers of Things British will already know--November 5th is just around the corner (also known as "Bonfire Night," also known as "Guy Fawkes Night." Google it and report back on what you find out.) Today is [not the fifth but the] first of November, and as I was walking in the neighborhood after dark, I saw a bonfire. Well, not a real bonfire; a small trash-burning fire actually, blazing bravely away in the pouring rain. It made me remember that famous British nursery rhyme:
Remember, remember the Fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
I've mentioned before that our neighborhood is mazed with gas pipelines that run aboveground like a giant feat of Tinkertoy engineering. It's common for people here to just build small, open-air fires outside their front gates to burn brush or trash whenever they happen to be doing some yard clean-up. (The number of burned-out fences in front of houses might suggest that this is not exactly a wise choice, especially on windy days, but people will continue to do it, regardless.) This particular neighbor always builds his trash-burning fire directly underneath the gas pipeline. Never a few feet in front of or behind the pipe; the placement of the fire is so exact that you have to wonder if he does it on purpose. Probably not, but we always cross the street when we pass his house on trash-burning days. Not that it'll do us any good if the gas pipe bursts suddenly, but you have to at least try.
Anyway, on to the non-sequiter part of the entry: What's Been Going On in the Gardners' Lives Lately. (This may have been a title more to the point, but far less interesting.) Did I mention that we had a mix-up with the order of our homeschool materials this year? Probably not, since at the time, I couldn't write about it without feeling slightly bitter. Now, however, everything's worked out fine and I can tell you about it without the least tinge of rancor. So:
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