Pop Quiz: Who are the three site contributors that are pictured below? That warm tingling sensation, the intense urge to make it bigger and bigger, the hotter it gets the less clothes you have to wear.... No this isn't love making, this is better. Most everyone understands that mesmerizing sensation where you are sitting around the fire and can't look away. What is it about watching pieces of wood flare up and disappear, all while having red/orange/yellow/blue/green/purple (not all of these colors are good) flames erupt from the pit creating a warm environment which exudes calm and comfort. Why is this so? It starts off with the preparation. Any traveled fire builder knows that the start to a good fire requires some prep work. You could just use a lighter or fire starter or something boring but that's no fun! You have to go out and find wood, search for pieces of all sizes to start and keep the fire going. The awful task of trying to find the little twigs and carry handfuls of them back to the pit, just to see your friend bring over half a tree that will be burned later. Knowing that deep down your contribution is more vital to the fire's existence but that he looks like he is doing so much more. Then it is all about the structure (dugout is the best for a quick and easy relaxing fire). You have to now find those bigger pieces of wood, the larger ones that you will put around the fire and throw on periodically. These are the ones you build a connection with. What, that sounds weird? If you have ever gone out and collected wood for a fire think about it. We all have that collection of logs that when we bring them back they have a spider on them, or they are oozing sap, they have weird hand holds, they are awkwardly shaped. When you get to the point you throw them in the fire you know that was your log. That log was part of your contribution and sacrifice to the fire. Heck, sometimes people get emotional with throwing logs in the fire that they have built relationships with.
Storytime: So a couple years ago we were at a summer camp and one of the kids found a log that had two protrusions that looked sort of like legs and would allow the log to stand up. He (Dillon) called this log stumpy and when sitting around the fire he would sit beside it and talk to it (he didn't actually treat it as a person it was more so a running joke). During the week Dillon also found a rubber duck which he decided he was going to keep and called him ducky... Dude was incredibly original with his names.... So ducky and stumpy were best friends. It got to be the last night before we all left to go back home. We told Dillon he should sacrifice stumpy because he clearly couldn't take him home. Dillon was very upset at the suggestion and said that it made sense, teared up and pushed stumpy into the fire. He then said that friends should stick together and threw ducky into the fire. It was a very somber night. Back on track. You've got the fire going and now it is time to kick back and relax. There is nothing better than getting a group of friends together, get some chairs and sit around a fire and talk. Hearing the crackling and popping of wood, seeing the bright flames, it's all incredible. Now, there is something else that combines with fire that makes it unbeatable: food. Open fire cooking is the best tasting food in the world! Lasagna, stir fry, foil dinners (potatoes and ground beef), tacos, chocolate bananas, hamburgers, hotdogs. You name it and you can find a way to make it. There is one that sets itself above everything else. It is the "Camp Breakfast" that you may hear us talk about. You take a deep frying pan and fill it with enough bacon for everyone. After the bacon is done you put the bacon on a plate and cover it with tin foil to keep it warm. You then take round sausage and place it in the pan that is still filled with bacon grease. After that is done you do the same as you did with the bacon. Lastly, you take eggs and cook them in the bacon and sausage grease (you may have to let some of it spill out to create room for the eggs). When finished you eat all three together. So, bad for you (you feel it for the day) but the taste is incredible! I could go on and on about fires. I even did a front flip over one and singed the front/top of my hair. But I would drone on and on. You have stories? Feel free to share them! PS: I am trying to get a video we made of some of our fires uploaded onto YouTube I can add it on here so that may be an addition in the coming days.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Sir Cory the GreatRandom Thoughts. Archives
August 2016
Categories |