At the top of today's to-do list was "burn older pile."

By afternoon I'd used up standard delaying tactics and started getting ready for the Great Fire.

First step was to find the new leaks in the yellow hose and duct tape them.

I got a couple sealed, then discoverecd that the hose was essentially dead plastic. Not a problem--I'd noticed this several months ago and had a nice new 75' replacement hose just waiting to be connected.

And I ran into the "problem." I had to get the old hose off the hose reel, and the new one on it.

But I hadn't noticed the wasp nest near the connection point, until I got bitten. I think it was a couple of bites. I decided I could do without the hose reel for a while, and connected the new hose directly to the faucet.

I do not do well with insect bites from the larger insects--such as bees and wasps. I'm eating antihistamines practically like candy. I decided to make a quick trip to the "emergency" place at Walgreen's. Only problem was that they had closed at 5 PM, because of the holiday.

If the hand is still swollen tomorrow I'll stop by there again. Meanwhile, I'll keep on with the antihistamines.

Despite the bee stings, it was a productive afternoon. One burn pile is slowly smoldering its way to near-oblivion. I'll get the other one the next day I stay home. It's a challenge to keep up with Yard Kid.

The rest of this evening will be devoted to typing up one of the archival inventories.