Puzzled, Puzzling

We have grandchildren visiting this week.  It is possible that everyone has grandchildren visiting this week.  And it seemed a good idea to tidy up the fire pit in our back yard, given the splendid weather and the grandchildren, and cook a few marshmallows for an afterdinner treat.  We've never actually used the pit before, which is why it needed to be tidied up--there were weeds growing down in the concrete ring.  The thing is, we don't eat hot dogs or marshmallows as a rule.

Then, the question of a burn permit came up, given that we are not supposed to be burning yard trimmings right now and the information, vaguely obtained, was that we needed a recreational burn permit in order to toast those marshmallows.  Neilson's Hardware--the source of burn permits--told us, however, that they could not sell us a recreational burn permit and for such use we would need to go directly to the fire department which is, of course, not open today and thus unable to sanction such frivolity.  So, what to do?

I poked around on the net, thinking that there surely must be some kind of exception for marshmallow cooking, but discovered, sadly, that not only do I need a recreational burn permit to toast a marshallow on a stick, but I need one that is good for an entire year and I need to pay $20 for it.  This makes no sense.

However, the next time regular burn permits are available ($5, available any day from Neilson's), I plan to end the yard refuse burn with a lot of marshmallow toasting.  We'll either just eat them all up then, or freeze them for subsequent use.  Or maybe we'll just toast the marshmallows over the grill. 

Really, somebody needs to rethink this.  I'm beginning to think that I will have to go to the Fire Department open house tomorrow, if only to whine a bit.