Our Afternoon Went Up In Smoke

Excitement mixed with a little suspicion is the only way I can describe the kids this afternoon. My husband informed them that we would all be going out back to witness the burning of the brush pile (a huge pile of branches and twigs collected up last autumn that didn’t get burnt off because of an early snowfall). The only catch was they had to collect up some of the branches and cardboard lying around the yard before he would light it. Grumbling they went outside, but managed to collect the worst of it within 10 minutes.

Fifteen minutes later we had a roaring fire. Kids scattered, looking for more branches they could toss into the flames. Soon, however; they lost interest and drifted away to play in the snow. As I stood by the warm fire, I was drawn in by the mesmerizing flicker of the flames dancing about the burning brush. The crackling of the moisture evaporating from the logs soothed my chaotic spirit. My thoughts drifted away and all I was really conscience of was the fire and it’s ever changing patterns and colours.

Next thing I knew there were snowballs, no, slush balls being tossed about. Laughter erupted as a purple snowball came crashing down near me. Why it was purple is beyond me and to be honest I don't think I really want to know.

Later, we all tumbled into the house, cheeks rosy and in a lighter mood. All in all we had a pretty good afternoon.