Reflecting on the fire

Thursday

We have a really nice outdoor pit. Slate. Tiernan and I picked it out, I don't know, maybe three years ago. The pan has reached the end of it’s life. It already had a puka in it. I used aluminum foil to fix that. Well, the hole grew so large it became a sinkhole. The whole bottom of the pan is now gone and I can no longer use it. Been shopping around, but the slate part is still fine and I hated to just throw it out. Looked one more time for the paperwork for my fire pit. And I found it! See, it pays to never throw anything away! I called the number. They no longer make the fire pit, but they have parts. So I ordered my pan. Should come to me in 2 to 3 weeks.

Meanwhile, I was off and wanted an early evening fire. So it was out back at the old fire spot. The one in the backyard. Under the trees. The wood was very dry and started burning right away. Jack was over here on Wednesday and he wanted a fire there so Mary had brought the chairs out there. I was high class that night – I sat in a chair and not on the ground! Nice fire.

And instead of the crickets being off to the side, I was right in their midst. Must’ve been three different kind of crickets singing. The crescent moon was behind a tree, but you could see the light. Couldn’t hear any frogs, but it was neat to be right under the crickets. Nice fire.

But I did notice something. It was a lot noisier. Just that distance from the lanai to the back of the yard made a lot of difference. Road noises. And some little plane flying around in an irritating fashion, or some motor that sounded like a little plane. It’s quieter up on the patio. Location. Location. Location.

I was sitting there, enjoying the fire and my Reserva Real, thinking about time. Time fascinates me. I mean natural time, not minutes, seconds, hours. Anyway, I was pondering this when I saw a plane flying overhead, headed for the Charlotte Airport. I was struck by how different our nights were. Same night. Same hour. Yet, I’m sitting in the dark, around a nice fire, relaxing, listening to crickets, enjoying the night. They are sitting in a plane crammed full of people, straightening their seat backs, turning off their electronic devices, stowing everything under the seat in front of them, preparing to land. Once they land they have to rush off the plane, make their way to their cars and the ride home. I could see them and visualize their plight, but they couldn’t see me. I did not envy them at all.

The plane passed by and I went back to reflecting on the fire. A little irritated perhaps, at the rudeness of people, making so much noise on a Thursday night. How rude! My fire burned down and I went inside for a bowl of ice cream and a movie from Netflix, It Happened One Night.

One night off this week. Nice fire. Now it’s back to that place.