Crackling Fire, Cracking Ice


Jan. 13, 2019.  Who does an outdoor campfire on a snowbound winter night? Hardy northerners do. Because sounds are fewer, they’re magnified. The ice is cracking loudly a few feet away while the fire pit crackles away at my feet. And although I can’t hear it, I know the home-made wood stove is also crackling in the tiny 12-foot camper about 30 feet away. 

When the cold seeps through my sturdy winter clothing, I will retreat into the camper for the night and wake up once or twice to look out at the stars and think about midwinter in the land of my ancestors, where the sun disappears for months. I wonder what it’s like north of the Arctic Circle tonight. Are the Northern Lights dancing? Are the people dancing? Or are they glumly waiting for the sun.

If you’re going to spend time in northern latitudes in winter, it helps to be an introvert. I enjoy this quiet time. My mind settles down some, along with the wildlife. My internal murmurings are muffled along with my footsteps.

Each season has its purpose. This is the season for reflection and renewal. The sun will return, along with frenetic activity. For now….rest is good.

3 thoughts on “Crackling Fire, Cracking Ice

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s