Monthly Musings – Around the Campfire

What is it about campfires that make them such magical places?  Is it the simplicity of it, the primal sense of community?  Is it a carryover from ancient times when the fire meant the opportunity to share as a community, in safety?

Here at Rice Lake, I have so many memorable moments by the campfire.  One evening, I was teased about saying “what a beautiful fire” every two minutes.  And this only occurred because of a shared campfire last year, with people who have become my friends, regulars here at Rice Lake also.

The campfire has the ability to remove any pretensions.  Faces and vague forms surround the fire, heightening the sense of hearing.  The only urgency is mending the fire, and the fire is the focus.  Conversation occurs as a sidebar to the fire, and the fire is the shared experience, a bond never to be broken.  While conversation flows easily, silence is equally comfortable.

Some campfires this year are shared with people who I met around the campfire last year, and we became friends.  That campfire led to other campfires, extending my circle of new friends with more shared campfires.

Fires are a chance to share.  Neighbors who shared our firepit also shared the smores, with the delightful, chatty and personable 10-year-old taking charge of roasting the marshmallows, assembling the ingredients and then distributing.  Another night, I had returned to find the fire going and the foil-wrapped nachos warming in the pit, prepared just for me.  I felt like a member of the family!  It also led to pre-campfire activities with them, like playing scrabble until it was too dark to see, then shifting to the fire.

Failing at getting the fire going was another memorable evening.  Yes, memorable because I am generally good at it, but memorable in how getting my fire going turned into a community event.  With no working fire-starter or matches, I wandered past groups asking if they could help me until I reached one blazing fire.  No one was there, so I found a long twig with some dead leaves.  I thought I would light it and carry it back.  But the fire-owner returned just as the burning leaves fell on the grass and asked me why I was burning his grass!  And no, they didn’t have anything to help me!!

When I relayed this story to a group on the way back, three young girls jumped up and said, “we’ll find something for you” and ran off.  Then the new neighbors two doors up were starting a fire, too.  They had everything – the lighter, wood, starter wood,  They brought it all and built my fire as the 3 girls arrived and pitched in.  They all left when it got going, but my neighbors kept returning, making sure it was going good.  And did I need more wood?  Just ask, for anything.  It was wonderful!!

Campfires are very welcoming places and seem to bring out the best of sharing and helping each other.  But along with the camaraderie, they also bring out the sense of responsibility, too, tending and confining the fire, in making sure it is completely out before leaving it. It is a managed and communal activity, with specific boundaries and rules.

So in the greater communal sense, they also educate about the power and danger of fire.  Luckily for me, at this moment, the campfire just gives and brings back good memories.