Campfires

Campfires are bred in the bone. There is something ancient in our attraction to them.

I visited my brother at his cabin on Saturday. I was very reluctant to go, because normally he operates a mosquito colony. But the wind was up, and the weather was cooler than the bugs like, so it was quite a pleasant visit.

My father and I had built a huge firepit beside my brother's cabin, and my brother had a huge fire going in it Saturday night. I did not want to leave, once he got that going. Like I said, fire is bred in the bone.

I remember one time I was out ice fishing with some guys on a lake that was thirty kilometres from the nearest road. I had frozen my hands baiting the lines, so we started up a big fire in the middle of the lake. Sitting by that fire as the moon came up in the crystal clear sky, listening to the wolves howling - it was an incredible experience, like a memory of a long ago time that we all instinctively share.

How at peace we are, the closer we get to who we were meant to be.