Fire, My Old Friend

It never ceases to amaze me how completely un alone I feel in the presence and companionship of fire. So many uncertain, dark, cold,  and lonesome nights in the vastness of nature have been combatted with a simple fire. A warm friend to sit with and chase out the darkness. To dull the sharp edge and pain of a shivering misery. A shield against the unchecked irrationalities of a run away mind. As I sit here in the darkness of the early morning, watching as the horizon softens to the gentle opening of a new day, I can’t help but feel gratitude towards a faithful companion that has always stood true. Today as it serves a new purpose for me than what it once did, I acknowledge it’s steadfastness in an attempt to communicate my gratitude towards our intimate and inanimate relationship. I am continuously amazed at how much better life has become since the symbiotic adoption of mankind and fire together. I smile at how good food can be using little more than a purposeful guidance of a simple chemical reaction yielding flame and smoke. It makes me wonder why we decided to make the process of what we consume, what we become apart of and what in turn becomes a part of us so complicated. There is always elegance and complexity in the simple elemental nature of things as they are, as they are allowed to naturally be. The appreciation and mastery of which becomes forever timeless. 

- Early Morning Fireside Thoughts Of A Humble Barbecuer.