Last respeects

Unless I get a call back from the fire chief saying "no" to burning the brush pile,  I'm all set for paying last respects to Ghost cat today.  Plan is to light off ~noon, but not do the actual creamation until after Alice gets home at 3:15.  Anyone wishing to come by around then is welcome.

It's Done

Although the big stumps at the bottom of the pile are still burning, my beloved Ghost has been released from hs earthly form.  I received a couple of omens today that this was the Right Thing.  First, whe out riding with quietann this morning, we saw a Red Tailed Hawk.  Just after that, the town fire chief passed us in his truck.  I waved him down and got my permission to burn.  Perhaps the biggest Good Omen was the fire starting very easily.  Sometimes it takes an hour or two to really get a brush pile lit.  This one took 5 minutes to go from a burning paper bag to flames 15 - 20 feet in the air.  A side effect of that was a minor grass fire, which we (me and my winter part-time farmhand) had out in a couple of minutes, but had the potential to burn the whole field.  Later a flock of crows, large for this time of year, flew over, and I heard some small songbirds having a beautiful go of it.