In light of circumstances this week, I thought I’d dust off an entry in this series that first ran in the spring of 2016 and roll it out one more time.
In honor of all my friends at the City of Houston and Houston Rural fire departments, along with all of their cohorts at other Texas County volunteer departments and the dispatchers at Texas County 911, who collectively face the task of dealing with wildfires caused by citizens’ carelessness on dry and windy days, I wrote a country song.
Burnin’ on a breezy day
I had to make a phone call
Just the other day
I didn’t feel too good about
What I had to say
But the conflagration from the pile
In the field behind the shed
Had gotten sort of out of hand
And, man, did it ever spread
So I dialed up ol’ 911
And let them know the deal
And soon enough the sirens
On the fire engines squealed
I was burnin’, burnin’
On a breezy day
I was burnin’, burnin’
Having things my way
I was burnin’, burnin’
On a breezy day
And I’ll keep burnin’, burnin’, burnin’, burnin’
Till my dying day
No matter what the circumstances
Fire I will light
No matter what the consequences
The desire I won’t fight
A need to torch all kinds of stuff
Burns deep within my soul
And causing work for firefighters
Just helps them play their role
So I don’t care who thinks I’m nuts
To burn when wind blows strong
It’s something I’ll do anyway
Even if it’s wrong
Yes I was burnin’, burnin’
On a breezy day
Oh I was burnin’, burnin’
Having things my way
I was burnin’, burnin’
On a breezy day
And I’ll keep burnin’, burnin’, burnin’, burnin’
Till my dying day
Yeah that’s me burnin’, I’m burnin’
While the wind a-blows
I’m just a-burnin’, and burnin’
And why nobody knows
Burnin’, burnin’, burnin’ is so hot
Burnin’, burnin’, burnin’ lights my fire
Burnin’, burnin’, burnin’ is so hot
Burnin’, burnin’, burnin’ is my desire
I can’t stop burnin’
Watch me burnin’
Feel the heat
Yeah it’s so sweet
Doug Davison is a writer, photographer and newsroom assistant for the Houston Herald. Email: ddavison@houstonherald.com.