Contained Fires

I love a good fire...a good contained fire. Campfire, fireplace fire, candle, candelabra, incense smoulder, or Video On Demand television facsimile of any of the above. But the first two are particular favorites.

There's a fireplace here at Kate's sister and brother-in-law's house, and I "attempted" to make a fire today, sans starter logs or any other helper material. It's really challenging. I've built campfires successfully before, but fireplaces seem to present a heftier challenge. I was happy that I finally got it burning, and kept it burning, albeit in a very limited and unexciting manner (picture a freckle on the log, instead of an all-over tan).

But that's the fun and the beauty of fire. It's controlled chaos. It's difficult to start sometimes, but once burning it is just as difficult to control. But controlled, it's entrancing. Kate and I stayed downstairs in front of the fire after everybody else went to bed and just stared into it. It warms you inside and out.

You may ask why we need a fire in Florida. Yes, it's been in the mid '60s during the day, but it does drop into the 40's at night. And for Floridians, that's 20 below zero. For us it's just a light nip in the air...but it still makes for good fire weather.