Breakfast at Duke's Diner!
The Duke was a tad testy after being called Fluffy.
He tried to explain he wasn't some show piece. He was the real deal. Named after a nick name, given to some guy, who played some guy named Stryker on some sandy island called Iwo. It's all very complicated. I pretended to listen. What ever ya say Fluff.
So the Duke, the Dog's Head, and I, headed out so he could prove his worth.
The first half of the story was Saturday night between the KA-BAR, the Duke and myself. We did some fire, some drinking, and some discussing. Some tall tales were told, then we had to see who could back up what.
That's all I'm at liberty to say. Except all of us saw the sun come up in good health. Well mostly.
No phones, no lights, no electricity, no cameras, it was glorious.
Morning came soon enough. And with it, big appetites.
So we set out to build some breakfast.
This is what we had to work with when the sun came up.
The Dog's Head was supposed to keep the fire going. But we found him passed out in the weeds.
Nice! Too many Saranacs there DH??
You can see last night wasn't a total waste of time. The Duke and I built ourselves the makings of a one stick fire. So we were ready in the morning, if need be.
In today's world. Everyone wants order. "You have to do it this way" they will say. Rules, there are more rules every day!
I'm not much of a rule guy these days. Had to follow too many in the Webelos.
Rules and signs,
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?
The Five Man Electric Band was stuck in my head.
Rules would have us dive right in to our one stick fire. Tinder, kindling, pencil lead, pencil, and so on.
But a few years back I read this great article on the Shoshone Indians.
http://www.hollowtop.com/spt_html/nothing.htm
It talked about how as nomadic tribesmen, the Shoshone were so highly efficient at what they did or did not do. To the western settlers that were invading their territory, the Shoshone appeared lazy and without direction. That assumption couldn't be further from the truth.
They were just so highly adapted to their environment. That outsiders couldn't see their methods. Simple things like instead of building a lean to or shelter. They would seek out a rock overhang to protect them.
This methodology just clicked with me. I have been working to understand and expand on it ever since.
To that end. Instead of the more traditional approach to my fire. I searched the ashes for heat or coals. There really wasn't much to work with. I almost gave up. But I'm not real good at giving up.
Finally I tapped the ashes off the last remaining log from the night before. Picked it right ip and tapped it on a rock. Then I started to gently blow on it in the center. At first there was just one red spot the size of a pin point. So I blew some more. It grew quickly. I took some cold charcoal from the ashes and crumbled it up small. Than I blew the coal red hot again and added the fresh fuel.
Flames!
I think it's going to catch!
We were back in business. I had set it on my wood pile so I didn't nave to bend over and get my knees in the wet ground. The whole process didn't take three minutes. And all my feathers will get saved for when I really need them.
Black charcoal from previous fires make great fuel. It's kind of like wood char cloth.
More fuel was added and things took off.
Not to be marginalized by this easy and efficient method of fire building. The Duke had his way with some logs for latter. He pointed out that if there is already a crack in the log, use it to your advantage. Makes good sense.
To work we went,
The Duke took it in stride,
First in half, then quarters, then eighths, all good.
We set the bark aside for another project to be discussed later.
I thought the Duke performed very well in dry seasoned Cherry Hardwood.
Maybe he is pretty tough. For now, we'll call him "Tough Fluff"
I'm betting he'll have more to prove when he hears that!
I like small wood for cooking. Especially breakfast. We're cooking eggs here, not a Buffalo. Small stuff is easier to work with. You can move it easy. And you can heat up or cool down your fire fast.
