Fire!

               One of my favorite family activities is enjoying a campfire.  Naturally, the weather has to be just right – a chilly but not cold, dry, spring day is excellent, as is a brisk, dry autumn evening. Whether we are enjoying a beverage, roasting a hot dog or marshmallow, playing games, or sharing memories and laughter, a campfire is just a wonderful way to relax.

               Fire can be beautiful.  It can also be deadly.  Take, for example, our innocent ride home from a dinner date with a couple of family members.  We were headed down the highway for a mere ten miles, to drop off our first passenger before we returned home with the remaining three.  These ten miles quickly became a challenge.  At first, it was puzzling.

               In the “fast” lane on the interstate, we began to notice intermittent lines of what appeared to be clumps of hay or straw.  These had obviously fallen from some sort of transport.  While, by itself, clumps of straw could be detrimental to travel, these clumps were especially concerning.  Why?  Because they were ON FIRE!

               Of even more concern was the pile – visible in the distance above.  It was huge, and was also ablaze!  As we passed by, at a reasonable and safe distance, the heat could still be felt on our faces, through the car windows.  It was pretty scary.  And the view we had was alarming!

               So, yes, fire can be dangerous, scary, and horrifyingly destructive.  All-in-all, I was pretty much against fire in any form.

               Until this weekend.  High winds, as might be expected, took out trees and downed power lines in our area.  We lost power for over 24 hours, which meant no flushing toilets, no television, no charging of the telephones, no showers, no lights, and…no heat!  Given that the overnight temperatures dropped to near freezing, we were pretty chilly. 

               Fortunately, we had fire.  First, we had fire in the form of a lot of candles.  I am just a touch obsessed with candles and tend to buy them when on sale.  So, we had at least a dozen unlit beauties sitting around our home.  We brought them all to the kitchen and enjoyed the light they provided.  We played cribbage, read a little, and had a romantic discussion, all while enjoying the flickering and aromatic delights of our candles.

               The night got chilly.  We used a lot of blankets and slept in our winter nightwear, plus socks.  But we weren’t uncomfortable at all. Thank goodness, we have a Ben Franklin stove in our kitchen.  It was a great source of heat. The entire kitchen was warm and cozy.  Although we didn’t have electricity, we had a good friend in our fireplace.

               Fire can be deadly dangerous, absolutely.  It can also be a comfort and a delight.  All I know is that, last week I was scared of that fire on the road.  But this week, I gave a lot of thanks for the fire in our home.