The first time I ever went camping over-night, outside of someone's front yard, was in second grade.
I went with a friend & her family to Camp Wilderness...which was vastly different those 30+ years ago. I remember just staring at the fire all night long. I didn't have visions of Mickey Mouse & Goofy in my head.
I saw visions of Indians leaping in tribal dance with the flames. I saw crocodiles & alligators in the burning wood. I heard the hiss of snakes & felt the heat of the 
sun under moonlight.
By the time I was 13, I would tell my parents that I was spending the night with Karen, Susan, Tracy or someone else.
Then I would pile into the old conversion van or the 66 Thunderbird with the guys & take off to Blackwater Creek for the night.
We were young & having fun. We would canoe, swim, play chase, even
skinny-dip & mud-wrestle, wearing ourselves out until there was nothing left to do, but stare at the fire.
I would see castles in the burning wood, damsels with long hair dancing in the flames & the fire's hum, as if singing the song that the damsels danced to.
The fires...they still suck me in.
The woods, the trees, the dirt...Mother Nature ... keep me grounded & the lack of a fawcett, a toilet and a power outlet clears my mind.
The sound of popping wood, the glare of blue & red, yellow & orange & purple & green swirling in the dark, the crumbling of ashes & collapsing of logs, the signature of smoke... fills it again.
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7 years ago
22 comments:
Ugh, it's so cold right now I'd give just about anything for a warm summer night around a campfire.
I love not camping.
Oh, you know I DO NOT camp! Well, maybe at the Holiday Inn Oceanside, but the fire biz... you're pulling on my heartsrings...so just for the fun of it, tonight I'm turning off the lights, turning on the disco ball and the crackling electric logs...and cranking up the music. Yeah, the tribal dance thing kind of got me going too! ILYSVM!
You know what's the best about fire and camping? When you have to build the fire from scratch, the feeling of accomplishment you get when it's really blazing. I remember learning the technique at camp, searching out just the right kindling, forming the "tent", fanning the flames but not blowing too hard...
There's nothing like a campfire. It really does suck you in. Something about just sitting there and staring. Talking to old friends or holding someone special. Sometimes just sipping on a beer. I never thought of it as one but it is one of lifes few pleasures
(sigh...) that was beautiful. :)
Oh, that sounds nice. I remember staying out all night at 17 and telling my parents that I was sleeping over somewhere. Staying out all night then seemed so rebellious.... Sounds nice.
I bought a nice tent this summer and then never used it. It's huge, but I wouldn't know. someday....
you took down the pretty ladies.
Just Run ~ I, too, had the coldness. It hurts my bones. We cranked up the wood burning stove last week-end because it dipped into the 30's and I got it up to 79 degrees in this old house.
Mist1 & Singleton ~ camping, to me, is like chocolate pudding...I think everyone should like it, but understand that all cannot.
Singleton ~ I'd love to be doing a tribal dance under the disco ball with you!
photobloggirl~ You are so right. One of my most liberating experiences was camping in the Appalachin foothills, 10 miles off the beaten road in the national forest...just me, one of my dogs & another girl. We were the definition of self-sufficient. Ate good, slept tight, had raging fires & lots of adventure.
Doug ~ definitely one of lifes' few pleasures. LOL, in fact beer doesn't usuallt taste so good to me, but dadgum, it tastes great when next to an open fire!
Anne ~ glad you enjoyed & hope you took a little mental trip to sit around the fire with me...I know you have roasted marshmellows! lol
Matt ~ As a teen, it was more of an escape (still is), but it is also kind of a rebellion against all the luxuries of modern day life ... TV's, phones, etc. You should take your tent & go camping soon. Fall is a great time to go ... less bugs & cooler temps allow for bigger fires & less night crawlers!
Girls are still here, they are just in draft mode...posted only for a few souls to be able to sneak a peek at.
Glorybe ~ LOL, since I have a wood-burning stove, my hair often smells of a fire. We built a huge brick fireplace off of our deck, so that we can have a fire anytime of the year. It really is so relaxing ... that and the hammock.
Hi:)
happy diwali
You're cutest little hippy! Love your description of the humble camp fire, I too enjoy camping. I love the early morning wake up call to the birds chirping in the distance and the lingering smog from the smoldering fire.
i miss the pretty ladies.
especially the one on the right.
When I get my acoustic guitar, I'm going to write a campfire song called, "Where Have All The Pretty Ladies Gone?"
Seriously, someone might wanna file a missing persons report. People are missing... and no one cares!
Happy Diwali to you too Deepak...my candles are burning!
Orhan, I could post no more until I heard from you. LOL.
Matt, those girls are not missing at all. I have them right here. I can hear the music already..bun unt de bun unt..bun unt de bun unt...to the tune of an old Van halen song.
*hugs*
Hi :)
Thank u. Good Day.
So you hate TV but you love fires...
Some say that the reason humans enjoy TV as much as they do is because the flickering light of the tube reminds us of the flickering flames of a fire that drew sitting circles of pre-tv humans together.
Just a thought.
I however, just like to watch things burn, like glass bottles and unopened cans of beans....
BeerSpitNight, I have noticed that people do get a droned out look when they are watching TV... an expression probably much like mine when I'm staring at a fire.
Difference noted would be that I can still communicate while staring at a fire.
BTW, you like to watch things explode! ...
last summer the menfolk in my neighborhood experimented with several items in the fire pit. Us women went indoors for that little lesson they were learning. End result : 3 cuts from one Killians Red on 2 guys, red paint splattered on the side of one white house & three men calling it quits early.
I am a lover of campfires and explosions that come from campfires fill my dreams. I think it all started way, way back in the day (8 or 9 years old) and my mom would bring us to the high school field for the pre-Thanksgiving Day football game where we would watch the bonfire burn, burn, burn in magnificent shades of yellow, red, orange, and blue. The best part of watching that bonfire burn though was when the batteries, that were hurled into the fire by older kids, exploded with a pop. I always wanted to throw some into the fire too, but my mothers keen awareness of my activities always prevented it.
Aha~BeerSpit...that explains so much! You see my manfolk neighbors all claimed that they always wanted to try the beer bottle/paint can thing as a kid & I can even remember as a teen watching the boys pull similar numbers. My mother has never been around an outdoor fire with me, therefore never prevented me from doing anything :) This fact coupled with watching the boys as a young teen taught me early that combustibles don't simply melt in a fire. LOL...my poor neighbor with her white house splattered red from her hubby tossing that spray paint can in... luckily no-one lost an eye!
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