Burning Down the Woods, Update

You might remember that a few weeks ago we had a fire in the woods behind our house. It was a real fire, the kind you see on TV or in the movies, with flames climbing the trees and rushing right through the pines.

At the time, New Jersey was on a Red Flag Alert for forest fires. Someone had a bonfire in their backyard the night before and thought they put it out. Obviously, they did not.

Now our woods are filled with blackened trees and scorched earth. But here is the amazing thing:

Trees are wonderfully adaptive. They can survive a single fire; in fact, the extreme heat makes them release seeds. (It's called Secondary Succession.)

The fire fighters told us to throw down wildflower seeds, since that scorched earth is now prime for planting. (Hence, slash and burn. I don't advise it as a Best Practice, though.) I planted the kind that attract butterflies, so we'll see if our woods turn into a flowery paradise this summer.

This would be cool!

I could rant against the people who had the bonfire and caused the damage, but they turned out to be really nice. They helped us to remove the damaged items (all plastic) and revarnish the stuff that was salvageable (all wood.)

Since my kid lost all of her old plastic stuff, she now has a trampoline instead. She's pretty happy about that.

The fire was one of the scariest things that ever happened to me and my kid, and if I could something to turn back time and prevent it, I would. Still, I'm looking forward to those flowers and the new butterflies.