While skinny dipping under a bright moon with Venus watching we saw something you just don’t see every day. An island in the center of Lake Ouachita, near Crystal Springs, on fire.
It was a Sunday night, the end of a busy weekend, so it’s not hard to deduce what must have happened. An inexperienced or hastened camper likely left the island with a campfire still smoldering. Then the evening breeze picked up and presto, a reignited campfire with embers drifting into the brush and trees.
It was eerily beautiful and frightening.
Unsure of what to do, I called Bill Barnes, a past guest on my radio show/podcast Up in Your Business and owner of Mountain Harbor Resort on the lake, who also happens to own a fire truck.
Bill thanked me for calling and said the Corp of Engineers knew about the fire and decided to let it burn. Explaining further, protocol for a fire that was isolated to an island with no lives or shoreline at risk is to let nature take its course. The fire would clear away the underbrush, and the island would eventually restore itself. A prescribed burn, sorta.
Fires are mesmerizing, powerful, humbling. Couple that with a big sky night of stars and I felt small. Had I been prepared for an overnight stay outdoors, I would have camped across the lake and watched it all night.
Now, I wonder what the island looks like and can’t wait to go back and see.
About the Author
Kerry McCoy founded FlagandBanner.com in 1975 with just $400 and a dream, building it from door-to-door flag sales into a multi-million dollar enterprise. With over five decades in the American flag and banner business, her insights into patriotic trends and flag sales patterns come from serving customers nationwide during times of celebration, crisis, and everything in between.
Kerry is also the host of Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy radio show and continues expanding her business empire through Kerry McCoy Enterprises while sharing the entrepreneurial wisdom gained from decades of building the American dream.
