fire

If you've seen a steady stream of smoke signals rising from behind our house, this would be why.


Juan Pablo's Christmas present from me. A fire ring. And this will go down in history as one of the best presents. Ever.


He's always been a great fire starter, except for the first time. Our one-bedroom townhouse quickly filled with smoke. The flue was open, but the air outside was so cold, it was pressing the hot air back into our house. We learned then that you need to hold a lit piece of paper up the flue to get the current flowing in the right direction.

But the ring is SO MUCH BETTER. It's gotten us outside for hours at a time. It's helped get rid of mountains of leaves that still clutter every corner of our yard. And look at the kids just chattin' round the fire. I've NEVER seen them do this.


Juan Pablo got wise and started filling our big, blue, unused baby pool full of leaves to throw onto the fire. The fire roars up and sends little sparks floating off into the air, fizzling out in a few seconds.

Every now and then, he gets a little too enthusiastic, and turns our warm fireside into a giant bonfire.


Last night, I was reading a little local newspaper we get in the mail each week. It said the State Fire Ban goes into a effect February 15...no burning after 4pm. I told JP, "It's a good thing we get this paper!" He replied, "It's a good thing you read it!"