One of the parks was the Columbus Park of Roses. I didn’t know it existed. Despite the fact that no roses were in bloom (it is only March, after all) it was still fantastically beautiful. I caught some beautiful photos of the rose bushes that will soon spring forth with beauty, color and new life.

Throughout the park there are beautiful pathways. These pathways have 12×12 (and 8×8) engraved stones that people have purchased in honor or memory of someone in their lives. I enjoyed reading some of them as I walked and soaked up some much needed sunlight. Some included eulogies, like my favorite, “She never slowed down.” Others were wedding dates and names, most likely having been married during blooming season at the park.

And then I tripped over this one.

I literally read it as my foot passed over it and I had to stumble backward and reread it. I took a few pictures. I stood there for a few moments and wondered what individual or group of individuals thought to dedicate a stone in a park of roses to these firefighters. Was it someone who lost a loved one? Was it another firefighter who, living in Ohio, felt helpless in 2001? Was it a group of firefighters? Was it a family who felt a tug to honor their heroes? I don’t know the answer. Someone spent $200 to forever remember those firefighters.

I wish I could thank that person myself.

Fire life seems to touch so much of my own life. As we walked down the Short North last night after supper, a group of Columbus fire trucks raced to a scene that I assume was a false alarm. The aerial truck responded and a bit of fear pulsed through my veins. I didn’t get a picture because my fingers were frozen at this point, the sun having dipped down behind the buildings. But, like the stone in the park had said earlier that day, I gazed upon the scene with a hopeful heart that everything would be okay and said a prayer and a brief thank you. They may not be my firefighters from my department but they’re still part of our fire family, wherever I happen to be.

Even in a rose garden.

Open-burning is particularly dangerous in the spring and fall, when the leaves are on the ground, the grass is not green and the weather is warm, dry and windy. As a result, open burning in Ohio is prohibited in unincorporated areas in March, April, May, October, and November, 6 am to 6 pm.

A few weeks ago, my husband’s department had a large number of brush fires on their hands. In the month of March while the burn ban was in place during prohibited hours. Why? Sadly, not many people know about the ban or understand what and where burning is still allowed. That’s why sites like Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources are so awesome. It spells out in pretty easy to understand language that you simply cannot burn much of anything between the hours of 6pm and 6am during these months. If you are needing to burn the land for reasons like vegetation regeneration, you actually need to have it approved first. If you don’t, a wildfire that could not only endanger your property but people’s lives.

A brief look at other states shows me that we’re not alone in this one. As an example, West Virginia only lets you burn between the hours of 4pm and 7am. That begs the question: does your state have a burn ban in place? Some states are like Ohio and have specific months every year with limitations on burning. Other states watch things like air quality and weather and issue burn bans for specific counties as the need arises. Do you know how your state mandates burn bans? You can do a quick google search by entering “burn ban” and your state’s name to find out pertinent information. Of course, there’s an even easier way to go about it: simply call your local fire department. Whether they are a paid or a volunteer department, they will be able to give you the information that you need that will keep you, your neighbors and, in the end, those same firefighters safest with regard to this topic.

Please be safe. While it’s been rather chilly here, it’s also been relatively dry. Do your part and clean up the leaves and other debris. Keep your burning set to appropriate hours and on days without wind. And pass on the word to others about the burn ban or information that is pertinent to your state. We can all do our part to keep wildfires at a minimum this year.

To start, FireDad walked to work today. There’s absolutely no way our vehicles were getting out of our private road (read: no plowing). Four wheel drive does nothing on a solid sheet of ice. Or, it may do something but it may be something that doesn’t get stopped when you get started thus causing you to careen off of our hill and onto the roof of the old school below our road. Not great. So he walked. Word is that he didn’t fall on his way. Either he’s telling the truth or is bruised and embarrassed. I’ll let you know tomorrow.

At 8:25 this morning, our apple tree looked like this:

That was while the ice was still falling. Well, I might be skewing the facts a bit. I don’t think ice was actively falling when I woke up (before 7:00, thank you very much, BigBrother) but it was falling when this photo was taken. Because as I leaned out of our front window (I’m a classy photographer), my hand and camera got wet. So, yes, active ice falling in this shot.

Then sometime after 11:00, I noticed the snow falling. And hard. At 11:48, I took this picture:

Same apple tree branch, now accumulating snow. In fact, after I snapped that photograph and while I was busy uploading, we went through a brief period of absolute White Out (and not the Penn State kind, either). I couldn’t see our back fence or my neighbor’s house. Right now (1:04pm), the wind is howling, the snow is blowing and it just keeps falling from the sky, piling on top of the ice which is on top of the snow that fell the other day which was on top of the leftover melted snow from the eight inches we had a week and a half ago.

NBC4i in Columbus, Ohio sometimes ignores us over here, about an hour (plus) east of the city, but watching the newscast let me know that we’ve still got a couple hours of snow left. I do know, thanks to their wonderfully organized website, that we are under a Level 2 Snow Emergency. What’s that mean?

Roadways are hazardous with blowing and drifting snow. Only those who feel it is necessary to drive should be out on the roads. Contact your employer to see if you should report to work.

Columbus is actually under a Level 3 which means that unless you are safety personnel, you aren’t allowed on the road. You could be arrested if you’re on the road without actual cause like, oh, I bet labor would qualify. And with a storm like this, I’m sure quite a few mothers are going into labor today. I wish them well.

At 2:10, I opened the window again, causing BigBrother to have a meltdown that he couldn’t hang out the window with me. Parenting fail.

According to the news Special Report on right now, the snow is “essentially over.” Now we get to deal with drifting and blowing due to the crazy winds that pushed the snow in, through and back out. The temperature has dropped six degrees since I noticed that the snow was stopping/stopped. However, I decided it was warm enough to shovel the snow off of the porch and front steps… without gloves. I will tell you that was a poor decision on my part. Just a heads up in case you’re like my friend Amy who commented on this post and said she broke the ice off of her front porch with a hammer. My tip: wear gloves. Seriously.

[I will continue to update this post until the craziness stops. Do you have a post about the Ice & Snow Storm hitting the midwest and other locations? Hit me up with a link. I'd like to pull them together tonight or tomorrow.]