That may seem like a largely trivial question to most folks most of the time.
But it’s vital to ranchers trying to burn prairie grass in the spring, or farmers looking to burn field stubble after the crop has been harvested. It can even make a difference in events as seemingly inconsequential as a fireworks display, as I was reminded Friday night in Larned.
I was out at the family farm for one of our periodic “work weeks” when more than a dozen of us headed into town for the July 4th fireworks. We reached the park on the north edge of town and settled onto blankets and lawn chairs with our snow cones and bottles of water. The sun set beneath a cloudless sky and the light southeasterly wind took the edge off of what been a hot day.
The fireworks began illuminating the sky —- and the breeze carried the ashes and remnants of the shells right into the crowd. I found myself wishing I’d brought an umbrella. Fragments landed in my hair, next to my left eye, in my niece’s snow-cone cup and on bare arms and legs. They were not hot, thankfully, but it gave the festivities a gritty edge.
If the wind had been out of the south or southwest, the crowd would not have been given the unexpected shower. But we went home with some surprise souvenirs. A couple of my nieces went home thrilled with their keepsakes. Me? I’m thinking of buying some goggles for future fireworks displays to protect my eyes after that near miss.