I have been away for a while.  During that time, I permanently moved to a piece of land that allowed me to homestead.  The population of free-range chickens, dogs and birdlife have grown exponentially in the last year that we’ve been here.  We grow our own food as much as we can and share whatever excess we have with friends and neighbors.  It’s an idyllic life full of peace and quiet.

A while back, the chicken broke into the garden.  Basically, someone underestimated their intelligence and left the garden gate open.  It seems the chickens had been sending a scout out daily to check the status of the fence and gate, and the minute they saw a chance, they walked in and ate my spinach, kale, cherry tomatoes and everything they could find.  One particular rooster took this opportunity to impress the ladies and I am sure this escapade earned him plenty street cred!  Even his walking style changed – he had a spring to his gait and a confidence born of that break-in!

The homestead is situated in an arid area.  Lately, we have had extremely dry weather that’s led to constant bush fires. Last Saturday night, I got a call from my neighbor with the insane news that my property was on fire.  I was home so I was sure my property was not on fire, but I jumped out of bed and peeked through my windows to check for the location of said fire. 

The wall of orange I saw through one of the windows told me this was no joke.  I promptly woke my grounds keepers as we needed to go help put out the fire.  Now, I have had two fire extinguishers in the house that were delivered three years ago.  Never been tested or serviced in that time.  All the same, we carried the fire extinguishers, buckets (empty) a cutlass and hoe and set off towards the wall of orange!

A little more context.  The homestead is also located in what may be loosely called a conservancy.  We have wild animals roaming around – the gorgeous giraffe that give us a condescending look when we stop to take photos.  The Zebras that pay us no attention whatsoever.  How rude! The constantly skittish gazelle that are always running from something.  The variety of birdlife, foxes and hare that are constantly flitting in and out of view.  The solitary leopard and her cubs who are almost mythical in nature – I have never seen them.  Finally, we have the resident hyenas. Always at my gate, cackling at my dogs and trying to gain entrance to my compound.  I am so used to them I find their cackles oddly comforting.

This was the bush we were trudging through in the dark with my grounds keepers, armed with cell phone flashlights, two failed fire extinguishers, four empty buckets, a cutlass, a hoe, and sheer grit!  We got to the fire and found other neighbors working furiously to beat the fire to death with green branches. 

One of the fire-beating colleagues tried to use the fire extinguisher and nothing came of it.  He then hit on a brilliant idea.  We opened up the extinguisher canister and dumped the powder on the fire.  Lo and behold! It worked!  The fire was snuffed out in a few minutes and the 25-man fire squad scattered to their various homes.

When we had arrived, we had dumped our four buckets behind a thicket as we quickly realized they were useless without water or sand.  Now that the fire was out and the light it had been providing was gone, we had no idea where we had left the buckets.  I was not leaving my buckets behind as I had lost four buckets the previous week while putting out another fire.  We had to find these buckets.  After beating around the bush for a while guided by the anemic light of our cell phones, we finally found the buckets, and started our trek back home.  This time there was no glow of orange guiding us home. 

My grounds keepers led the way as I walked behind them shining my cellphone light behind them.  To an observer, we must have looked like three ghosts lost in the woods trying to find their way home.  At some point, I had to ask the lead grounds keeper if he knew where we were.  I did not.  There was no moonlight or starlight to guide us home, so we stumbled around in the dark until we finally saw the security lights at home.  It was 3am by then.

What an oddly fulfilling night that was.  I got into the house smelling of smoke and ash and soot but feeling very accomplished.  After I washed off the dirt and grime, I sat on my bed to reflect on this experience.  Why were my fire extinguishers not working?  Why did I not have powerful flashlights? What was the purpose of buckets if they had no sand or water?  Why did I not have industrial grade fire extinguishers?  And as I sat there pondering this, I heard the cackle of hyenas at the gate.  As if to say, we watched you put out the fire and trek home in the dark – you are now safe!