Nice use of sound, compelling voices, I agree with the other commenter that it could have been about a minute or so shorter but overall I found it really interesting and a perfect fit for summer.
I’ve never been fond of fires. Ever since I took my eye off a fidgety barbecue and nearly burned down a summer vacation house, I’ve preferred water to flame.
Many people don’t share my preference. Arsonists, gothic novelists, and backwoods types cuddling up to Franklin stoves would light firecrackers and cherry bombs 24/7 if they could. It turns out that Jan Jantzen, a retired college administrator, charges visitors a hundred and twenty bucks a person to participate in torching his ranchland in western Kansas.
Seasonal prairie-grass burn-offs are legendary. If native Americans and their North American conquistadors weren’t replenishing the soil by charring it, lightning has been causing wildfires for eons. Without such conflagrations and without grazing, in Rancher Jan’s words, the prairie “would become primarily a scrub forest, mainly with eastern red cedars that wouldn’t have much value for anything.”
Although this piece glows too tepidly and could have used a reverse bellows to make it at least a minute shorter toward the middle, it’s mainly fun. While Jan jokes his visitors about being careful not to singe their eyebrows, his 50 paying guests are netting him a serious six thousand bucks. As well as indulging in pyrotechnics, they’ll get to chow down local cheese curd plus peach-glazed buffalo and barley meatballs out of a chuck wagon—yum!
They’ll also get to hear The Millbrook Boys light a bluegrass fire in Rancher Jan’s barn. During the last couple of minutes here, the band ends up sounding a bit sour to my ears. But far be it from me to rain on this blaze!
Comments for Paying to Burn the Prairie
This piece belongs to the series "KC Currents"
Produced by Sylvia Maria Gross
Other pieces by KCUR
Rating Summary
2 comments
Peter Solomon
Posted on July 16, 2009 at 09:05 AM | Permalink
Enjoyed this piece
Nice use of sound, compelling voices, I agree with the other commenter that it could have been about a minute or so shorter but overall I found it really interesting and a perfect fit for summer.
James Reiss
Posted on June 24, 2009 at 09:47 PM | Permalink
The Parable of Fire
I’ve never been fond of fires. Ever since I took my eye off a fidgety barbecue and nearly burned down a summer vacation house, I’ve preferred water to flame.
Many people don’t share my preference. Arsonists, gothic novelists, and backwoods types cuddling up to Franklin stoves would light firecrackers and cherry bombs 24/7 if they could. It turns out that Jan Jantzen, a retired college administrator, charges visitors a hundred and twenty bucks a person to participate in torching his ranchland in western Kansas.
Seasonal prairie-grass burn-offs are legendary. If native Americans and their North American conquistadors weren’t replenishing the soil by charring it, lightning has been causing wildfires for eons. Without such conflagrations and without grazing, in Rancher Jan’s words, the prairie “would become primarily a scrub forest, mainly with eastern red cedars that wouldn’t have much value for anything.”
Although this piece glows too tepidly and could have used a reverse bellows to make it at least a minute shorter toward the middle, it’s mainly fun. While Jan jokes his visitors about being careful not to singe their eyebrows, his 50 paying guests are netting him a serious six thousand bucks. As well as indulging in pyrotechnics, they’ll get to chow down local cheese curd plus peach-glazed buffalo and barley meatballs out of a chuck wagon—yum!
They’ll also get to hear The Millbrook Boys light a bluegrass fire in Rancher Jan’s barn. During the last couple of minutes here, the band ends up sounding a bit sour to my ears. But far be it from me to rain on this blaze!