Our recent fire produced many unintended positive consequences beyond just the immediate change of perspective it granted me that day. So many, in fact, that it sort of seems like one of those “all things work together for good” kind of things, which is much easier to recognize after the fact and especially when nothing “bad” actually happened in the first place. If you’ve never had someone try to encourage you with that after something bad truly has happened, well, just trust me on that, OK?

1. You get to meet the neighbors.

There isn’t much to do out in the middle of nowhere, and when you notice your neighbor’s property going up in smoke the instinct to gawk, er, see if you can help is strong. We finally met the farmer who owns the fields adjacent to us. Who, incidentally, consoled us with a story about the time he accidentally set his neighbor’s pasture on fire back in the time before cell phones.

Oh, and when the neighbor drops in to help you in your time of need, it provides a good excuse to bake some cookies and bring them down to solidify those early ties and let them know you aren’t a complete loss as a naive city-slicker.

2. It gets things done.

In Lancaster County, you got things done by calling and complaining. At least there was a number to call and complain to, and Lancaster County has something called money to do something about it. OK, so they’re always complaining about a lack of it, but they aren’t This County which truly is lacking in the resources to take care of things like our road.

The sign says that the gravel ends a quarter mile up the road, but it lies. The gravel ends at the sign, and deep ruts begin. Ruts so deep that our cars scrape the bottom and mud so thick we can’t always make it up the hill. But you see, the head of the volunteer fire department also drives one of these.

And I think it is no small coincidence that he showed up in it the day after the fire and graded our road.

I also think it no small coincidence that his friend, the guy with the giant dump truck full of gravel, showed up the day after that and dumped a fresh load of gravel on our stretch of the road. Gravel which the news was just reporting was coming at a premium this year, leaving the county to prioritize the worst stretches of road (and leaving a sinking feeling in my heart with regards to the prospects for our road).

3) You learn valuable information about the area, and most importantly about your own property.

When the neighbors congregate, they like to swap stories, and there’s nothing like a new neighbor who hasn’t heard them all already. We finally gained some insight into our coyote issues. It seems this used to be a favored dumping site for the local poachers with NINE deer carcasses piled up next to our garage at one point. Yes, this was the all you can eat buffet for the local coyotes, and apparently they haven’t quite given up the idea that its doors will reopen. Since I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to dump a carcass now that someone is actually living here, I have hope that with time, the coyotes will simply move on.

4) Fire is healthy for grass.

This property was vacant for two years. In that time, it became somewhat overgrown as it slowly reverted to a semi-wild state. The grass was having difficulty pushing up through last year’s dead growth, and the whole land looked messy and unkempt. Mostly because it was messy and unkempt. Now, just over a week after the fire, I can still see where the fire was as I drive up our road, but not because of the blackened dead area it appeared to be just after the fire.

No, it and the flower garden it took are now the highlights of the property. The land is green and lush, marked by the distinct outline of the fire’s path.

Before:

After:

Pretty impressive, huh? And, uh, yeah. I just provided the world with photographic evidence that I have done nothing in the last week to clean up that little pile of stuff. Oops. Anyway, it is leaving my husband to sort of kind of wish that the fire, so long as it was to be, had somehow taken the rest of the grass while also miraculously leaving the buildings and trees untouched.

Disclaimer: I in no way advocate setting fire to anything in order to reap the aforementioned benefits. But so long as it did happen, I shall count my blessings, naming them one by one.