My friend, Bob, recently bought a wood stove. It gives out that thick wrap-around heat which only such stoves can give. How he loves his stove, basking in the comfort and warmth which were not there before. Of course, he has to clean out the ashes every once in a while. If he doesn’t, no air circulates from beneath to keep the fire going.

One day he took out half a bucket of ashes and threw them in a trash can outside his house. That night a strong wind blew up the creek, stirring the ashes. About two o’clock in the morning Bob smelled smoke, the stench of burning trash. He ran to the window to see his trash can in flames. How could that be? Who had set the fire? He put the fire out and then sat down to figure out what had happened. No one had set that fire except himself. He had not noti…