Evening By The Fire

Late April and May are months when the skies of Texas can display the fury of Mother Nature. As I was looking through pictures tonight this shot of the sky taken looking off my front porch reminded me that we are now in that time frame. I remember thinking when I took this picture that the sky looked like it was on fire, with great mounds of cooling coals heaped together.
Storms are expected tomorrow and I hope they are gentle.
The sky reminded me of our fire pit.
Tonight as the big dipper slid slowly across the evening sky, we sat by our fire pit. The night dark as the moon was hiding. The fire glowed red and orange against the blackness of the night.
Our fire pit sits right in the center of a circle of oak trees. Young trees still, old enough that their branches reach one another. Most nights in spring, fall and winter we are out there. Summer is just too hot for a blazing fire. This past year was an exception as it was so dry here there was a burn ban and we could not have our fire. We missed it. Our benches, with Celtic knots burned deeply into them were put away, to collect dust.
Now, with spring rains, the ban was rescinded and again we find ourselves sitting out there long into the night, loosing all track of time. Conversation easy. It feels a bit like days of old when we are out there. The children love these evenings. Sometimes there are roasted marshmallows or fried potatoes hissing in the big cast iron skillet. Friends stop by and pull up a log to sit on and some lift a glass of cheer, others sit quietly and soak everything in.
Laughter and singing often fills the night air. Mostly Irish drinking songs and we laugh that the children know so many and wonder how they learned them all. More laughter around every corner of conversation.
Its hard to describe what sitting round an open fire does for you. It chases away stress and time. There are no schedules by the fire pit. I believe all families should have a fire pit. The children share so easily what is happening in their lives, in the darkness of the night, mingled with the warmth of the fire, there is no judgment. Only freedom to share. By the fireside, husbands and wives hold hands and gaze at each other in the golden hue of the fire.
Family stories spill out and young ones listen. In time, and you know without a clock, that you feel sleepy and you head towards the house, smelling of wood smoke and feeling deeply content.
It is the best times, these fireside chats, where time stands still.
How I wish you could all stop by for a chat with us on such a night as this

pictures....
a spring sky
the fire pit tonight
Melanie enjoying roasted marshmallows

Tonight I am grateful for......
long evenings by the fire
stars that twinkle in the black sky
marshmallows
the smell of smoke in my hair as I lay in bed
the sound of crickets
spring rains
soft music and then....
the sound of silence