The Joy of Building a Fire

Building a fire to keep warm is a primal, instinctive bit of work.

There is some kindling to be chopped, some paper to be crumpled, some wood to be laid out, a match or a lighter light.    The photo above is the wood stove at my house taken immediately after I lit tonight's fire.  This appliance, a Pacific Energy Super 27 wood burning stove, is my primary source of heat in the winter.

Usually I build a fire once a day, in the evening time.  A few logs in the stove will burn for many hours.  In the morning there are still a few live embers in the firebox and the house is still nice and warm.  On a normal morning, I'll usually let the embers die out.  But when its cold, like around 15 below zero like we've had on a few recent mornings, I'll lay some new kindling, a couple logs and some paper over the embers and get the fire going again.

Building a fire in my wood stove keeps me feeling connected with an elemental part of life.  The work involved is a kind of meditation.  Its one of those actions that brings me to a place where it seems like the world as it is coincides with the world as it should be, if that makes sense.

Thanks, Prometheus.