Bring People Together and Kindle Strong Friendships

A campfire is a controlled outdoor fire.  It is lit to provide lighting, warmth, opportunities for outdoor cooking or as a deterrent of pests and aggressive animals. The campfire is also symbolic of camp and represents the bonding between campers and nature. 

During camping a campfire provides a sense of community as people gather around the fire.   A campfire is for talking, sharing experiences or telling stories. Campfires promote an atmosphere of being together and evokes feelings of togetherness. 

Fire can purify water, cook food, provide warmth, light and comfort and can be used to signal rescuers should you need help during an emergency situation.  Being able to build a fire is a survival technique one should learn especially if you do a lot of hiking. When you are stranded in an emergency situation, fire is helpful for informing searchers of your location.

Choose a spot that is at least 6 feet away from trees, bushes, and low hanging bushes.  Clear the area of dry twigs and leaves that could ignite and cause the fire to spread.  Make sure the fire spot is on dry ground or build a bed of rocks.  To build a fire, start with a big, loose handful of tinder placed right in the middle.  Arrange kindling sticks around the tinder.  Once you create a spark or get some smoke from your tinder, feed it with more tinder until you have flames.  Then add more fuel to get the campfire roaring.

Within the USA, it is illegal to leave a recreational fire unattended.  A fire that is not attended to can quickly start to burn out of control. Even a tiny gust of wind can quickly spread hot ashes or embers over a large distance.  It is important to ensure the fire is completely put out, embers and all, before walking away from your fire pit. Pour lots of water on the fire and drown all embers, not just the red ones.  The fire is fully extinguished when it’s completely cool to the touch.  The rocks surrounding the fire should be cool to the touch as well.

Advice from a Campfire

• Bring people together

• Spark new ideas

• Kindle strong friendships

• Radiate warmth

• No smoking

• Be a good storyteller

• Don’t go to bed fired up!

Advice from a Campfire

• Bring people together - Working with others to complete a shared goal involves teamwork and it brings people together. 

• Spark new ideas - This reminds me of the camp song, ‘It only takes a spark to get a fire going…’ Share your ideas with others and watch them grow. 

• Kindle strong friendships - To kindle is to arouse, to awaken or to set on fire.  Good friends accept you for who you are.  They stick around through good times and bad.

• Radiate warmth - To radiate warmth be kind, trustworthy, supportive and understanding. 

• No smoking - Maybe this should say no smoking and no vaping.

• Be a good storyteller - Learn the skills needed to be a good storyteller.  We all have a story to tell and it allows others to connect with your journey and expand their own understanding of the world around us.

• Don’t go to bed fired up! - Makes me think of the saying, don’t go to bed angry. Some nights one goes to bed thinking about all the things that need to happen the next day, and one can’t get to sleep. On those occasions, this phrase don’t go to bed fired up is one I need to remember.  

Have a great day everyone.  Bring people together and kindle strong friendships today.

# living life abundantly   # published author   # travelling tuesdays