How to Dig a Fire Pit

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When Nancy and I moved from Clearwater to a small town called Anthony, we thought that a year on a 120 acre cattle farm would be a nice change.

Change is an understatement.

I had never lived on a farm and the farthest I had ever been from civilization was about 100 feet (about 30 meters for my metric friends). Nancy had been there, done that, so this was nothing new for her. We lived in a little house on wheels that had an opossum family living underneath it and many giant spiders living all around it. We’re talking spiders the size of your hand. Yeah.

Among the oaks, pasture fences, misty mornings and manure, we found ourselves in a place where you could do something that wasn’t allowed in the city. You could burn stuff. With this revelation, we immediately set out to install a custom fire pit in the back yard (which could have been the front yard because the trailer had a door on each side). Since I like passing on valuable tips to my readers, here’s the way to make a fire pit:

1. Tools: rake, shovel, a few beers
2. Locate spot away from house
3. Rake away debris from the installation area
4. Dig a pit about 6 inches deep by 4 feet wide
5. Line inside edges of hole with cool rocks, bricks and other fire-resistant stuff
6. Cut some green logs and place them around the perimeter
7. Build a huge pyramid of seasoned firewood
8. Light fire, open beers and enjoy the conflagration

You’re probably asking yourself what this has to do with rust. Well, we got to enjoying the fire pit so much that we practically cleared the farm of dead wood, which is a fire hazard if allowed to accumulate too much. Dry oak burns quite efficiently. (Un)fortunately, the day quickly came to move into our current house (without wheels), so we had to say farewell to our beloved fire pit.

After moving in, a good friend purchased us a city-approved outdoor fireplace. This is basically a metal cage that you can burn fires in, without having to worry about burning down your neighborhood. We have had it ever since we moved in and as you can see from the photo, the ash pan has seen better days. It still works, but probably not for too much longer. Ash and rain makes for a wonderfully corrosive environment. A little bit of morning sunlight makes for a great photo. It works, but is nothing compared to the open pit we had on the farm.

With the freezing weather quickly approaching, the old fire pit will be remembered as the family gathers around the rusty one in the back yard, huddled in blankets and lawn furniture, only steps away from civilization. Beer will still be on hand. :)

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