I Smell Smoke

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I have the doors open and someone is burning leaves. It smells so good, like my childhood. We had the largest lawn on the block lined with 6 trees that turned golden in Autumn. Ours was the yard to play in for jumping in huge piles of leaves, making leaf houses and for burning them. We didn't have sidewalks, so in late Fall we would rake the leaves into the curved gutter in small piles. It was always a Sunday project when my dad was off and children home to help manage the fires. We learned and relearned fire safety every year. The other day I brought Mom home and the house was filled with smoke. The back door had been left open and it was a very windy day. The neighbor behind her was illegally burning leaves that were now smoldering and huge clouds of smoke were wafting into her house. My sister peeked over the fence to see that the fire was in embers and no one watching it. We all clucked, clucked over the lack of care the neighbor took but secretly enjoyed the scent of the leaves burning. So, saying all that, I suspect the same neighbor is at it again. It's windy,sunny, cool and I think all the other neighbors are law abiding citizens. I know for certain one who isn't.