A New Memory

Terry never expressed much interest in an outdoor fire pit. I've never really felt inclined to have one either. There were some neighbors who made a pit with some concrete blocks next the our access road and sat there in the evening drinking wine and watching logs burn. Their fire pit sat in an ugly part of their property and a drainage ditch ran right next to it, not a nice setting at all. So there was not much motivation for us to build a fire pit.

However, in recent months Terry has started to mention the idea and frankly it took on some interest in my mind. So last week while we were on vacation I rounded up some field stone we had collected over the years and built a fire ring about a foot high out of loose rock.



We broke it in on May 30, 2010. Zeb and daughter Tracy came over and we "ignited the fire pit and charred some mammal flesh." Zeb was exhausted after a day in the sun fishing and riding in a boat so they left about 7:30 PM. To my surprise Terry stayed by the fire until we finally came in at dark, about 8:45 PM. We had a great evening sitting there talking and just enjoying the peace of the evening.

The view of our yard was very different than from the porch. For one thing I hadn't really thought about how our yard slopes down going northward from the driveway. The pines looked taller and we had an unfettered view of the tree tops which is cut off by sitting on the porch. The orchard of fruit and nut trees was rather impressive.

We talked about having some cooking implements out there and perhaps making a breakfast over the open fire. We talked of how comfortable it will be in the fall when cooler temperatures make sitting out more pleasant. We talked about a Christmas fire, even a Christmas tree by our now designated, "Outdoor Living Area." Terry got a poker and played with the fire moving logs to have a small flame going much of the time.

It was as pleasant an evening she and I spent together in a long time. I am sure we will find other evenings equally pleasant and a small investment in time and resources already on the property made for a lovely setting and evening. One thing for sure, after last year's ice storm, we've plenty of fuel.