Fire

This is my 250th blog, and I'll commemorate this with a story about that greatest human achievement: fire.

As I mentioned, Emily and I went camping recently. We arrived at the campsite around 10pm, not long after it had rained. With a firepit in our campsite, it seemed only logical that we light a campfire. Since we're not made of very stern stuff, we opted to buy firewood from the campground manager for $5.

Having the firewood was not enough though. You have two Computer Science students, in a damp campsite, trying to light a fire. I mean, we're both perfectly capable of setting off fire alarms just by trying to cook. But intentionally starting a controlled fire?

First, we realise that we need paper. Let's hear three cheers for tourist brochures and magazines! They burn a little funny, perhaps because they're glossy paper, but otherwise they work just fine.

Next, we need the optimal fire structure. Something that will protect the fire, focus the heat, etc. A pyramid or tee-pee structure perhaps? We tried, and tried, and failed. In the end, just throwing the logs one over the other, with tinder underneath and paper jammed between was our solution. This "lazy" approach seemed suitably Australian to me. :)

We got to watch that fire burn itself out as we lay in the tent. In the morning, Emily arose first (surprise!), and got the fire going again. She was very proud of her handiwork, as you can see in this picture.

Of course, all good things must come to an end. Emily's fire was actually burning more fiercely than the previous night's, and we needed to put it out quickly. Plastic shopping bags filled with water served in place of the usual buckets. We managed to fill the air with smoke and steam before we drove out. Very nice. :)