I made a fire last night

I made a fire last night and enjoyed it thoroughly. In my delight I got to thinking about fire:

Sometimes you can spend so much attention and energy stoking it that you don’t sit back and enjoy it. I started it then was gathering wood, cutting the wood, feeding the fire… I suddenly stopped and said (yes - out loud, to myself!), “This is dumb, you’re missing the fire!” Anyone remember Mary and Martha?

Sound – fire has different sounds. Crackling, popping, and the hissing of wood that is a little wet or still has sap.

Colors – it’s really cool to see the variety of colors. Some items burn with their own unique color – I pretty much burn everything :-) But even wood can burn with different colors. I often make a fire with Tiernan and try to teach him about the colors of fire: ugly orange, usually accompanied by black smoke; yellow – and the hotter the fire the brighter the yellow; the blue at the base of the yellow flame; the red coals – there is no flame but it is hot, “red hot”; and we often talk about a color we never see, white.

Wind – fire needs oxygen of course and sometimes a little breeze can “fan the flame.” I am usually real cautious about starting a fire on a blustery evening, but last night’s wind surprised me and I went ahead. Good thing my fire pit is on the concrete porch because there were times when sparks were flying everywhere! I did stop burning the boxes – cardboard tends to fly all over under normal circumstances.

Warmth – it is especially nice on a chilly night to build a fire, get it going and then sit back and bask in the warmth.

Smoke – different material produces different smoke. Some billows black smoke, ugly. The drier the wood the less the smoke of course, but there is always smoke. And there must be principle behind this, but smoke follows me. No matter where I sit or stand the smoke will find me out! But there is a benefit, after a fire I smell like wood smoke. Best cologne in the world!

Smell – ahhh, there is nothing like the smell of wood smoke! And different wood produces a different aroma. When I had a grill I always cooked with wood and the different kinds of wood gave the meat a different taste. Which reminds me of the time we had Jason and Rebekah over for supper one night. We had hamburgers that I cooked on the grill. Wonderful and strong smoky flavor – great burgers! Made Jason sick. I guess my California-bred friend wasn’t used to such robust food :-)

The best part of sitting by a fire? All the lights are out. It is quiet. The crickets start their singing. It’s relaxing and the flame is mesmerizing. I’ve read a lot of westerns, so I know you’re not supposed to stare at the flame, just in case an enemy sneaks up and you will look up and not be able to see anything in the dark. Despite that, I stare into the flame. I figure if anybody is sneaking up they probably just want to sit with me and enjoy the fire too. Besides, I usually leave the gun in the house!