spring clean up

We had filled both trash cans and stuffed 8 trash bags so full their sides were groaning under the pressure.  We had a whole hillside of leaves still left to dispose of.  "We're building a fire," I told my oldest scout, "and I want you to man it."  While he got to work gathering kindling I set about the daunting task of clearing the hillside.  

Small wisps of smoke called out to the boys in the neighborhood and soon there were eight pyros dancing around the fire pit excitedly.  Once the fire was strong enough we began throwing handfuls of leaves hoping they would be eaten up by the flames.  We only succeeded in smothering the boys hard work and in so doing created great clouds of white smoke.  Defeated, I grabbed fresh garbage bags from the shed.  The throng of boys made their way up to the house to round up hotdogs and marshmallows.  

They were seated comfortably in their camp chairs, hotdog sticks in hand, when we first noticed we had visitors.  "Is that an ambulance at the top of the gully?" one boy asked.  Two uniformed men emptied out of it and much to our chagrin, started making their way down to our impromptu scout camp.

Turns out someone had called the police on us.  

So here's the skinny.  We spent the evening packing 8 more trash bags well past their recommended weight.  We waited for our neighbors to put out their trash cans for garbage day and then in the anonymity of night we found homes for all sixteen black bags of refuse.  

That's right.  We're classy that way.