Reconnecting By Campfire

Hello again!

This past Patriots Day weekend, we made our annual trek to our cabin to open up and begin a new season.

Opening day is usually hectic, there's usually small damage from the winter that needs to be repaired and there's always a pipe that did not drain properly and shows itself as soon as I get the water going. But after a hectic first day, weather depending, we have a campfire. They have had a little more rain than we have had here, so it was ok to do. Another week of no rain though, and it will be out of the question.

So we had a group of adults and children and we got caught up on all the past winter's events. A campfire is a great way to reconnect. As usual, the laughs were many and loud, my best friend of many years and I have the same argument we have had for years and years: he believes in UFOs and other life out there, and I do not. Everyone rolls their eyes and says the same thing: "Not another year of this," but we wouldn't have it any other way. Of course, everyone has stories and catching up to do and it goes on late into the night. Plans are made, such as the guys are going to the "Three Stooges" movie next week. We are Stooge aficionados, having laughed at them since we were little kids.

All kinds of discussions ensue. Politics, UFOs, restaurants, the weather, car troubles, you name it. Here in our backyard in North Woburn, we had campfires on any weekend we didn't go away, but last year we didn't have any. It seemed that there was always something last summer, so we never got around to it.

But you know what? as soon as this drought is declared over, we are going to start again. I miss hanging out with our family and neighbors just shooting the breeze.  I wonder how many others in Woburn do the same thing? I'm sure some do. And for those that don't, if you can, try it. Go buy one of those metal fire pits. We use rocks around a hole dug in the ground in our back yard, but the metal pits are just as good.

Want to reconnect with the family? Want the kids to hang out at home some Friday night instead of running off? Then build a fire. My daughters always hang out here when there's a fire. Their friends come over to hang at the fire even if the old folks are sitting there! It's as if for a few hours, everyone is equal, everyone is on the same page. The texting stops for a few hours, Facebook becomes a thing of the past for a while. And everyone laughs at the same jokes and stories.

I can't wait for this drought to be over. I am looking forward to the weeknight campfire out in my backyard. Go on, try it, it's easy and I can almost promise you will sit back and look at each other and say: "Why didn't we do this before?" And once you catch the bug, it will be a ritual, I will bet money on it.