The air was cool and damp tonight. The day had been warm almost 70 degrees in the afternoon. There was a few piles of snow left lingering from the late season blizzard we just had. March is always known for wild weather here in the midwest. Tonight felt like such a relief from the brutal winter we had. Not that much snow, but many single digit days and nights. Enough to question everything. Tonight will be a good night for a fire I thought. Don’t overplan it like usual, just keep it simple and enjoy the evening.  A chair some dry-ish wood and your trusty fire poker. 

Lighting the fire was easy tonight, I like to use the little cube style fire starters from the bbq section at the big box. I have tried other fire starting methods just for fun, but tonight, i have to keep reminding myself to keep it simple. A few dry plywood scraps from my latest scroll saw project, and it was blazing. A few heavy logs from the old elm tree that was stacked up in a neat pile. Its like the wood pile was just waiting for a night like this.

Its hard to beat the smell of campfire smoke on a cool night. Not the kind of overpowering smoke you get like when your neighbors burn leaves. That kind of smoke just smolders for days, and smells awful. Campfire smoke is different. Its the kind of smell that triggers memories of the past. Things like childhood camping trips, dutch oven cooking, or that time we tried to make a swimming pool heater. Campfire smoke is sometimes in the distant breeze also. On other nights that are especially clear and cold, I can smell the neighbors’ fireplace.

So after I grabbed my favorite flannel shirt, and the blue bag chair, I settled in upwind of the hot fire. The stones around the fire started to release steam, and some of the damp wood sizzled with moisture. Not enough wetness to cause trouble, but just enough to crackle and sing into the night air. Collar up on my flannel shirt tonight.

Shortly after that, I started thinking about coffee. If you have never cooked coffee over an open campfire, you are truly missing out on something special. A vintage coffee pot over the fire is an absolute visual pleasure. Campfire smoke and coffee? Come on, you will feel like you’re sitting on a stump next to John Wayne himself. Sharing a corn dodger or two, and sipping coffee would make for an epic evening. 

Just then after my daydream, the fire started to fade, and I began to shiver. This fire needs stirring, I thought to myself. So I grabbed my 47” forged firepoker, and went to town. Before I knew it, I had to step back from the blaze. You should always keep something around to stir the fire. A simple fire on a cool March night, that’s exactly what I needed.