Last fall I gathered together the leaves and brush and all the debris of summer on my fairly thick-wooded lot in preparation for eventual burning. I would like to have burned it all then (before it was completely frozen and buried in snow) because that was the time of the year when we all used to clean up the fallen leaves to burn by the side of the road. I don’t remember when or why the state made that a no-no. Maybe it was because windows might still be open? It couldn’t have been that autumn smoke is more harmful to the environment than the winter kind, could it? Anyway, the time was moved. Winter smoke must not cause much global warming.
Last year one only had to call the police station to get an OK to burn. This year citizens must go in person for a certificate so the state will now know who’s making all that smoke while attempting to burn the ice-coated stuff—if they can dig it up—in their yards.
Dick Greene
Warren Avenue
