Campfire Musings.....

There is a piece of music I have listened to countless times that has the sounds of flames crackling, old dry wood snapping, along with rain in the background... and a steady, yet subtly increasing tempo... I can hear it in my mind right now by just closing my eyes and listening again...

Musing and reading by the flames of a campfire or an old wood stove is an experience of joy... It is an environment that promotes the opening of one's mind and the presence of possibility... In the flames dance the muses themselves... We have only to listen to their music...

D. Brower asked, "Why is it that memories of campfires are so long-lasting...".

Grandfather, a Mountain Elder, said: "Our dreams are like a fire at a campsite. We can go off and do other things, but in coming back to the fire, we return to the center, to the warmth, to the energy."

Painting these small stones, with a fire glowing across the room from me, has become a special time...

I have tried to portray something of the fire and the movement of the flames in these tiny Summit Stones...

Then I sit quietly back and remember...gazing at the coals, seeing the flames dance, listening to the comfort of the hiss and the crackle...finding the remains of fire's in those islands, in the northern woods, at trail sites not used in years, while pondering who was there, and what their adventures had been like...

Have you ever seen a face in these flames? Have you ever discovered meaning in the coals?

Do you ever wonder why we feel such warmth around these fires in our hearts, and not just on our hands or feet?

Just some campfire musings...

DSD