Mulch Ado

There has to be a metaphor in the mulch.

If you are not in our town, you may not know that Downtown Knoxville has been besieged by a burning pile of mulch since Sunday. Firefighters have been fighting the blaze constantly and they’ve been able to keep the fire contained. They’re really hoping the soaking rains from last night and this morning might be their best tool to douse the fire.

The burning mulch, located at the Shamrock Organics facility, has been a real environmental pest. Air quality has been compromised, visibility on the expressway passing through downtown has been compromised. Smoke has blown into many neighborhoods south and north of downtown – depending on wind direction – causing hardship for those residents.

Runoff, caused by massive amounts of water poured on the piles of mulch, has led to fish kills in the streams leading to the Tennessee River. Meanwhile, city leaders have been discussing what to do in the wake of this problem. Local governments have contracted with Shamrock Organics to take in brush and debris in the wake of all of the massive storms in 2011.

Somewhere in all of this news, perhaps deep within the piles of mulch, there lies a metaphor. Or maybe it is a fable. Or some story with mythical implications.

For now, though, it’s just burning mulch. I’m not trying to make light of it, mind you. The situation is serious.

The mulch piled higher and higher at this facility as storm after storm downed trees, limbs and leaves. And, I guess, as some point, mulch can spontaneously combust. I remember years ago, when I was a volunteer at Fantasy of Trees, we used to have mulch trucked in for some of the intricate landscaping that makes that such a beautiful holiday event.

Anyway, one year the fire marshall noticed it and say it was a ‘no-no.’ Now, we know why. The Fantasy folks went to cotton batting (which is safe and resembles blankets of snow), so everyone was happy.

But fast-forward to the events of the last few days and you have a lot of unhappy folks. On the plus-side, area businesses rallied to support the firefighters – by donating meals and bottled water to sustain them as they have worked round-the-clock to try to extinguish the blaze.

Everyone is hoping this soaking rain will actually do the trick.

Meanwhile, I’m searching for the metaphor.

JG  

(Source: knoxnews.com)

Originally posted 4/18/2012