Burn

Maybe a 3-seed Mercury ? I couldnt ID

An old trail smothed in th cropuscular rays formed by the smoke. (Right)

Below: Smoke cant even dull the fall colours!

A flame trys to overcome a small green stand of grass

The sun is blocked by the thick smoke.

Participated in the first burn of the year today. We burned (tryed to burn) a private piece of land ~15acres, somewhere off of hwy13 in Johnsin Co, MO. Its was a gorgeous plot of wooded land next to a lake. The trees were almost all some kind of Oak, and were all in their peak of fall colour. I saw more colour today than I have all season!

THe forcast was for 40% humidity, and NW winds at 13mph (a west wind would have been better). But what we actually got was ~30% humidity(not bad) and light and variable winds. This was not good; the fire would thrive in a wind direction, but when the wind shifted to like the opposite direction, as it often did, the fire would be forced into an area that had already been burned, and die.

Overall, the fire was not a successful one, but probably the most beautiful understory burn Ive ever witnessed. We (myself, my mother, the land owners neighbor: Larry Rizzo, and a few others) may try again when we are able to build up a heavier feul load(leaves) and conditions are more favorable.