Ah, the Fire!

   The old brown kerosene stove in our Dining Room warmed my childhood home in Seymour, Ct.  I used to just sit there and watch the flames, blue and orange, flickering and dancing in their assigned spots. Campfires, bonfires, firepits, fireplaces, the fire has always been a gathering place for family and friends old & new. Is it the warmth, the ambience, or maybe people just look better in that warm, amber light?

   I'd rather gather around a fire than a TV set anyday. The fun and comfort of the fire is one of those things that are simply the way things ought to be! I'm a low-tech guy at heart, and I love simple things. The song isn't about chestnuts roasting in a microwave oven! (Though most people would probably rather be roasting up marshmallows and stacking up S'mores.) A hot dog or a brat cooked over the open flame is a delicacy to be savored!
   I've written before about the smell of hickory smoke wafting its way from the fire. And how come steaks and burgers smell so much better cooking out on the grill? Breakfast cooked on the campfire: sublime.
   Fires are just made for friendship! At the campground on Burton Island in Vermont,  the park rangers would light a huge bonfire on the shores of Lake Champlain on a Saturday night, as local musicians would ply their instruments in old favorites and folk songs. A fire brings people together.
   I'm no pyromaniac or arsonist. I don't worship fire. But from Moses and the Burning Bush to the disciples in the Upper Room, fire is a Biblical metaphor for the presence of God.  Rapid oxidation. Combustion.  Flame. Fire.

   It's one of those things we love about life. Light one today!