Pioneering: Part 2

My son loves everything about the whole bonfire experience: collecting kindling, piling wood, helping to arrange it all for best burn-ability, poking a stick into the flames, staying up late, and roasting weenies and marsmallows. He inevitably falls asleep against his will, safe on someone's lap.

My brother-in-law is the same way (aside from the falling asleep in someone's lap part, of course)! He's the kind of guy you'd want around if you were stranded on a desert island...a cross between MacGyver and Pa from Little House on the Prairie. John loves any excuse to build a fire, so every time we visit them or they visit us, we're sure to have one.

There's something about the warmth, the light, the dance of flames that speaks to the pioneer in me, the cavewoman in me. Introspection, serenity, and most of all, safety...the wolves might be just outside that circle of light, but I am secure in this ancient fortress. Perhaps this is why my busy, active, emotionally-intense boy loves it as well. Ironically, on this fire-night he was too busy chasing fireflies to sit still enough for a low-light photo, but my niece obliged.

Now that the warm weather is here, it's time to replace our Friday Night Family Movie with a Friday Night Bonfire. My son is going to be one happy boy, I tell you.