Campfires

Last weekend was a long one and a good one. How do I know this? Because it was a three campfire weekend. The wife and I were at the home improvement store and were admiring the new fire pits. About six years ago I bought a standing fire pit at a garage sale. Over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that it was one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. The hours we’ve spent on the patio around a fire roasting marshmallows, telling stories, laughing and simply relaxing have been priceless. There is something almost other worldly about a fire. It produces light, heat, interest, distraction and a little danger. Like our relationships it is constantly changing and needs attention and tending.

Saturday night’s fire was pretty low key, started just because it was a beautiful night. Sunday night my older daughter finally was able to have some friends over for her birthday which was over a month ago. They watched a movie and near the end of it I offered to start the fire for them. They decided to open presents before coming out and it got a little late so I thought they wouldn’t be out for very long. Wrong! When I came out to check on them over an hour and a half later they were still in the middle of stories and laughter. They had fallen under the spell of the fire, and it made me really happy. Early Monday evening I was reading out on the patio when the youngest said, “I sure wish we could have another fire;” to which I simply replied, “Why not?” We started it right away and wrapped it up in plenty of time to get to bed at a reasonable hour.

This past spring our friends’ daughter got married. When I was talking to her fiancé about what they wanted for a wedding gift, he said something kind of interesting. “Anything your family has enjoyed would be cool as we start our family together.” So I got them a fire pit.

Allow me to share a couple of suggestions for maximizing pleasure and limiting your frustration. First, use fire starters. I usually make about 25 at a time by cutting up corrugated pizza boxes and rolling them up into about 3 or 4 inch long tubes that are tied together with some twine and dipped into a coffee can of wax from old candles melted in a double boiler. Nobody wants to have to fight to get the fire started. They are a lot easier to make when you work together (one holds the tube while the other cuts and ties the twine).

Second, use good dried split logs for your main fuel and random yard waste sticks for the kindling. A couple of years ago I bought a pickup truck load of split and dried firewood from a friend from church. I can take four logs configured in a log cabin and enjoy a fire for a good hour and a half without a lot of fuss.

Third, it’s nice to have a good fire-working tool to be able to position the logs around. Fourth, keep it simple. You don’t have to always have s’mores and hot dogs and podgy pies and drinks. Remember that you want to have a fire to relax and relate. You don’t want to avoid having a fire because it’s too much trouble.

Finally, don’t get all wigged out when the kids want to play with the fire. Give them some very clear guidelines and plenty of space to mess about with burning sticks. Your job becomes keeping an eye on them which is kind of why you are having the fire in the first place. (The author and management are not responsible for accidents, but he does recommend a campfire for lots of good memories.  )

Darren Sombke currently serves at the Director of Spritual Life at Rockford Lutheran School. He and his wife, Jungah, have been married for 19 years. They have two boys and two girls between the ages of 8 and 18. He is a proud tightwad and an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan.