clearing my head

Hubby and I have a small fire pit in our back yard. When we have enough sticks and branches gathered from the yard we treat ourselves to a nice fire on pleasant evenings. The last couple of weeks we have cleaned out some well aged dead lilac branches that have needed to come out for some time. This gave us enough wood for a really good fire last night. It was a perfect evening and the soft sounds of the birds and the crackle of the fire were soothing and restful.
By the time the fire was down to embers it was
dark and hubby was ready to call it a night, but for me we were just at the best part. I have a real thing for sitting in the dark watching fire embers. I stirred them all up and sat close to feel the heat on my face. I was there with just the company of little critters I could hear in the leaves behind me and a few cricket. I could hear the soft sound of traffic in the distance and an occasional airplane fly overhead winking at me with it's blinking lights. Ember staring gives me time to just sit and clear my head. The living glow of shades of orange and red are mesmerizing and thoughts and ideas flow like crazy. I receive more inspiration in this kind of atmosphere. Everything goes away and I'm surrounded by calm and clarity.
We didn't have fires at home when I was little. Only if we went to a state park or camping or something. I have always been a person that needs to clear my head however, so I ran for the woods. We lived on a dead end street on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi river and lake Rebecca. There are woods surrounding the whole lake and I spent countless hours there through my childhood. So when things got to be too much for me I headed for the woods where it was quiet and easy. I'd find a good walking stick and just meander until I found the spot that called to me that day and sit and just soak it in. Wild life was everywhere and once in a while I could hear a fish jump in the lake. The best part was that there were rarely ever any other people around. It wasn't park space so there wasn't any reason for people to be in our woods. We had the space all to ourselves.I had a lot of freedom to wander. I was a good girl and didn't give my mother reason to worry. Also it was a more innocent time and we weren't concerned with things happening at the hands of others unless it was just mischief my brother or one of the neighbor boys was up to.
I loved our woods. They spoke to me and were my best friend. I still long to get back to a place where I have space to roam away from the eyes of humans. Someday I hope to have that space again. Perhaps I will.

© 2009