Now, in the middle of a March blizzard, is the perfect time to report on our first two days of spring burns. In addition, the obvious question to think about today is: what do you call a collection of restorationists? You know—a murder of crows, a scurry of squirrels, a parliament of owls, a charm of hummingbirds, a prickle of porcupines, a shiver of sharks, a dance of cranes, a _____ of restorationists?

The Valley Prairie was still pretty wet from Friday rains, but we persisted and ended up with a mostly superficial burn. Likewise with the Barn Prairie. Fortunately, Sunday stayed dry, and Monday warmed up to 70 degrees, so the crew decided to re-burn both parcels after completing Monday’s work.

We completed the burns around the cabins and barn before lunch, and then headed up the hill to the East Basin, which had plenty of time to dry out.

Now, lunch is a very important element in this quest for a name for a group of eclectic humans that do this kind of thing for a living—a name that reveals their essence and their majesty (my exaggeration). Over shared garlic chips, glazed donuts, and triple chocolate muffins (thanks, Amanda) we tell stories and we tell on each other. We initiate contests such as: Name an artist that best exemplifies the Canadian character? We pose questions such as: What do you call a group of cranes? Even harder, what do you call a group of restorationists? We argue and joke and make things up. It’s lunch.

There were a few suggestions. A bunch of cranes is a herd, a siege, a sedge, a covy, a construction (mine), a swoop, a spring, a dance. A collection of restorationists? A caring of (rejected as too sappy), an argument of (fitting), a compliment (not a typo) of? Nothing was agreed on. But I was not giving up.

Sure enough, there was a spot fire in the left half of the Pocket Prairie, which tired crew members ran uphill with their back cans of water to put out. We all had visions of the entire south slope going up in flames, but, thankfully, that’s for next year, as planned.

Again, after completing those two units on a very warm Monday afternoon, and after putting out embers in the savanna, the guys and gals decided to re-burn the Valley and Barn Prairies. I drove the red supply mule and kept out of the smoke (my job). In the barn, when everyone was efficiently but tiredly emptying water cans and putting equipment away, it came to me. The name for a group of restorationists: An exhaustion of…