For the past 10 days I’ve been in Texas enjoying the outdoor world of farmland located half-way between Austin and Houston, near the town of Burton, Texas. It’s been a wonderful week of enjoying nature, and the world of antiquing.

In the morning, fog rolls over the landscape giving us gorgeous scenes of the farmland that dominates the region. The scene normally seen each morning is shown below.

On the fifth day of our visit to the area, I noticed that a fire was burning about 100 meters from a building that I was in, and thought that this was odd given the fact that there were hundreds of people here, along with a wood structure and canvas tents. I walked over to the the fire, and noticed that trunks of trees were being burned in a pit, but also noted that trash had been placed near the pit; with the extreme temperatures generated by the buring tree trunks, the trash ignited. A 20 mile per hour wind carried smoke and debris in the direction of tents and people. It was hard to believe.

After some investigation, I found that the fire was deliberate, and that the peaceful environment was being disturbed by actions of just a few people. In all directions I saw the tranquility of nature, and in the one direction, I saw “fire in the pit.”

You can see pictures of what I observed, and wondered what science education and teaching lessons were evident. What do you think?