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- Dec 8, 2004
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- 4,812
Two weeks ago, some friends of the family came a long ways into town and agreed to spend the night at our place. Great fun for all the kids, as they usually never get to spend enough time together.
That night, I got a good fire going in the back (with help from my 4 year old, whose assistance and expertise I laud in another thread). Hours later, there was a grapefruit-sized chunk of coal left from one of the bigger logs and nothing else. I covered the fire for safety, and in we went for the night.
The next morning, we woke early and threw the kids into the yard to burn off some energy. The adults sat around and relaxed after breakfast, and Mrs. Visitor said "I can't believe how much that fire burned to nothing."
We went over to the fire, I removed the safety cover, and there was the sad little piece of wood, sitting cold and black and shriveled. She picked it up and looked at it. I remarked that it probably felt super-light to her, and she agreed. We all passed the hunk of coal back and forth, getting black soot on our fingers. It was stone cold to the touch.
I pried off a piece of the coal with a thumbnail, and the tiniest whiff of smoke curled up under it. "Want to see something really cool?" I asked.
As the kids gathered around with the rest of the parents, I placed the hunk of coal into the fire bed and piled some dried grass and small sticks around it. I took a bigger stick, cracked it to make a sharp edge, and dug into the wood. A tiny wisp of smoke curled up again, but this one had some laminar flow to it. I began to blow on the coal. And blow. And blow. Probably a good thirty seconds past, and everyone agreed there was a curl of smoke coming out of it.
I gave another slow puff of air, and POW. The grass burst into flame. I quickly added more kindling to it, and within one minute total of seeing that first curl of smoke, I had full fire going.
Mr. Visitor did something very smart. He made sure he had all five kids' attention and said "You see why to take fire seriously? That fire was totally out, but with a little dried grass and nothing more than blowing at it, he got it to come back. There was still heat trapped deep inside that wood."
The kids were convinced it was magic. I was convinced that heat + air + fuel = fire. All it needed was air. But everyone agreed: it takes a lot to put a fire out.
That night, I got a good fire going in the back (with help from my 4 year old, whose assistance and expertise I laud in another thread). Hours later, there was a grapefruit-sized chunk of coal left from one of the bigger logs and nothing else. I covered the fire for safety, and in we went for the night.
The next morning, we woke early and threw the kids into the yard to burn off some energy. The adults sat around and relaxed after breakfast, and Mrs. Visitor said "I can't believe how much that fire burned to nothing."
We went over to the fire, I removed the safety cover, and there was the sad little piece of wood, sitting cold and black and shriveled. She picked it up and looked at it. I remarked that it probably felt super-light to her, and she agreed. We all passed the hunk of coal back and forth, getting black soot on our fingers. It was stone cold to the touch.
I pried off a piece of the coal with a thumbnail, and the tiniest whiff of smoke curled up under it. "Want to see something really cool?" I asked.
As the kids gathered around with the rest of the parents, I placed the hunk of coal into the fire bed and piled some dried grass and small sticks around it. I took a bigger stick, cracked it to make a sharp edge, and dug into the wood. A tiny wisp of smoke curled up again, but this one had some laminar flow to it. I began to blow on the coal. And blow. And blow. Probably a good thirty seconds past, and everyone agreed there was a curl of smoke coming out of it.
I gave another slow puff of air, and POW. The grass burst into flame. I quickly added more kindling to it, and within one minute total of seeing that first curl of smoke, I had full fire going.
Mr. Visitor did something very smart. He made sure he had all five kids' attention and said "You see why to take fire seriously? That fire was totally out, but with a little dried grass and nothing more than blowing at it, he got it to come back. There was still heat trapped deep inside that wood."
The kids were convinced it was magic. I was convinced that heat + air + fuel = fire. All it needed was air. But everyone agreed: it takes a lot to put a fire out.
