My neighbor across the street, Sharon, had a tree blow down in one of our wind storms last spring. It was a really pretty Redbud tree. It was both pretty to look at and pretty big. It was also a reminder of the street we live on, Redbud. The tree made a big mess in the front yard. Her son came and moved it into a pile in her backyard.

I told Sharon I would burn it for her. The problem was it go so dry last summer I couldn’t burn it. Then the fall rains came and it was too wet. After that my schedule got extremely busy, and I never could get around to burning the brush pile.

Finally, it dried up, warmed up, and my schedule cleared up so I could burn the pile. I asked her if I could contribute to the pile. I had a lot of scrap wood outside the barn that I needed to get rid of. I also had an old and severely rotten floor of a utility trailer I had replaced and needed to dispose of. She said, “No problem.” I loaded the old wood on the pickup, got the diesel and a lighter to light a fire, and went across the street to the back field. I threw the wood on the pile and doused everything with a good coating of diesel. I determined the direction of the wind and lit the brush pile on fire.

The fire quickly ignited, and the flames spread around the brush pile at a steady pace. The wind helped the fire spread and consume the whole pile in a matter of minutes. However the wind was somewhat unpredictable and would blow from one direction for a while, then suddenly switch to a different direction. No big deal really, the pile was burning and would soon be down to some embers.

After about 15 minutes the bulk had burned, around the perimeter there were some branches and large limbs that had not burned. So, I thought I would just pick them up and throw them on the burning pile of large branches and tree trunk.

I went to one side and was able to easily access a couple of the limbs and smaller branches. Then I went to the south side of the fire where there were some big pieces. I reached down to pick up a limb when (remember that wind I was just talking about) and, yep, the wind switched to the north with a huge gust. The fire changed direction, and the flames came right back on me!

I dropped the limb and jumped back, but too late. The damage was done. No, I was not injured, but my hair was another story. I knew it had to be bad. The hair on my arm was singed, and I was certain so was the hair on my head.

I went to the pick up to the mirror and looked. Couldn’t really see a lot. I grabbed my cell phone and put it on the mirror setting. WHAT! It got the front of my hair really good. As a matter of fact, the color was a yellowish color, not the white I am accustomed to seeing. And even my eyebrows were showing signs of the extreme heat.

I called the lady that cuts my hair and said that I needed a favor. To which she asked, “What did you do this time? Come on in, and I will look.” I jumped in the truck, drove across the highway (her shop is only a couple of blocks away) and walked in. She took one look and told me to sit down in the chair.

For the next 20 minutes she cut away the singed all the while laughing, lecturing, and reminding me how much of a challenge I am.

She finished and said that she did the best she could without just giving me a buzz. She also said I would need to come back in a few weeks and let her trim up a little more. This was going to be a definite work in progress and take a couple of cuts to get back to normal (whatever that is).

And of course, while I am in the chair, one of my deacons comes into the shop. He hears my story with Lee’s commentary added to it. He laughs quite heartily and tells me he can keep this secret, but he is not sure about the people he tells! GREAT!

Moral to this story? Number 1, leave the burning to the professionals: firemen, tree trimmers, or lumberjacks. Secondly, never (I mean never) trust the wind in Oklahoma. It will change every five seconds I have decided. And finally, you can’t keep a secret in a small town…period.

There is not really any Biblical relevance to this except that God takes care of fools (Psalms 116:6). And then if Hell is a place of flames and fire, I don’t want any part of that.

Watching the fire, Bro. Tim

P.S. The hair is coming back in quite nicely, and I need to go and get a trim.