Spring cleaning in the vineyard

My job today was to set four small controlled fires on the edges of the estate - I am the most qualified for arson because I've seen the most movies in which firemen tragically die. Also, I am good at controlling fires as long as they are very very small. For the most part, it was completely windless, so it wasn't any real work at all - the sets of old branches and dry leaves were super combustible and all I had to do was make sure the fire is burning at the least windy side, eating slowly at the pile, never getting higher than ten feet. There was no smoke to speak of, the waste completely dry. Normally there would have been a dozen piles, but I took most of the stuff and fed just the one at a time, keeping the scorched patch to a minimum, mindful of the vermin and bugs that would have made their homes in the rotting piles over the winter. I have two left, but those are in the middle of the orchards and should be entirely safe, no matter which way the wind turns. The dogs slept in the sun nearby, covered in ash, General building his bee-pasture platform. We had plans to go on a small hike tomorrow, but there's some trouble at the farm, so we're seeing the in-laws instead, helping out. It's so springy these days, so lovely and bird-song plentiful.