14 April 2010

The Beauty of Fire.

As regular readers are aware, my second job is forest worker. I spend as much time as I can working on my forty acres of forest cleaning up after Mother Nature and she's been a devil this past year. Between the freak winds and the insect invasion I've got my hands full. I try to burn as I go along because I am very fearful of fire in the forest. I keep my piles small and easily manageable by one person.

Images of fire are the focus of this post. Look closely at the marvelous texture and design. It's really beautiful.


I had this downed Larch right outside my kitchen window and it was driving me nuts so yesterday I decided to get it taken care of.


The old dear had died from I really don't know what. The woodpeckers had certainly been after her carcass so maybe it was bugs. Whatever it was she had been weakened and had fallen in a wind. So, I got the old chainsaw out and limbed and cut her up for firewood. Larch is great firewood. As soon as I had enough slash I started my fire and hand fed it as I went along.


Once I've put all of the debris on the fire I have nothing to do but tend the fire until it's mostly burned out. It's not a boring time because it offers me the opportunity to marvel at the beauty of this place I call home. It's like a meditation.

As I stood leaning on my shovel I became mesmerized by the glowing coals and began to see all kinds of beautiful designs in the hot embers. I ran to the house for my camera in hopes I could capture some of what I was seeing. Fire is one of Nature's many dichotomies. It is at once beautiful and dangerous.

Dantes Inferno by Kinsey Barnard
Dantes Inferno by Kinsey Barnard


This last image I took some artistic license with. I'm addicted to color so every now and again I have to do some enhancement. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. In this case I think it does. This image is offered for sale at Imagekind. If you click on the photo it will take you right there.

Now, isn't fire fascinating and beautiful?

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

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