Posted on 09/19/2003 6:44:51 AM PDT by fight_truth_decay
There's something about a campfire that makes us gaze. Our eyes focus on the dancing flames. We stare. We contemplate. We don't know what we're thinking about, as we poke the embers for no apparent reason, but we feel as warm inside as the middle of a toasted marshmallow.
Just last week, when an early September chill grasped the night air, we piled a bunch of sticks inside a ring of rocks in the backyard and struck a match. We never had the patience to rub two sticks together.
There's something about a campfire that attracts the neighbors' kids. Or maybe it's the s'mores.
So it was with a deep sense of regret - almost a sense of loss - when we read recently that camping groups nationwide, including the Scouts, are discouraging campfires and encouraging other fuel sources, such as propane.
Can you imagine? Somehow, we did not think singing "Home, Home on the Range" meant cooking on a gas stove.
According to The Wall Street Journal, a growing number of state and national parks are also banning campfires to prevent forest fires and the removal of wood from the forest floor. Apparently, fallen tree limbs help enrich the soil as they decay. (Then require people to bring their own wood.)
Some parks have even replaced campfire rings with gas stoves and charcoal barbecue grills.
In 2001, the Boy Scouts of America changed their cooking merit-badge requirement to allow stoves instead of campfires, reports the Chicago Tribune.
Isn't there something to be said about the value of surviving in the woods without modern conveniences? Isn't there value in teaching Scouts about the appropriate conditions and the appropriate setting to build a fire. And, most important, isn't it important for children to learn the proper way to extinguish a campfire?
But beyond the fear of forest fires and depleted wood on the forest floor, there is another irritating reason why parks and Scouts are dousing campfires: lawsuits. If Johnny gets burned, Mommy or Daddy might file a lawsuit.
Like the removal of diving boards at public pools, which we lamented several weeks ago, the campfire may be another victim of the litigation craze.
We hope that the trend to ban campfires elsewhere across the country expires at the Cape Cod Canal. Campfires are still allowed, under certain conditions, on some beaches at the Cape Cod National Seashore. Beach fires are also allowed by most Cape towns as long as a permit is obtained.
And we're glad to report that many Cape Scout troops still burn the real stuff, in a responsible way. Massachusetts fire regulations still allow small open fires for cooking. So as long as the marshmallows are handy, enjoy the campfire.
Cook safely, and don't forget to put the lights out.
For decades a small island (but can drive the sandbar to get to it)in Maine has offered the most beautiful ocean front and wooded campsites in Maine. Several old ship building families still own most of this beautiful privately owned landscape. Every summer Mainers and outterstaters alike pack up their families, ripping their teenagers from the clutches of their "I will just die if I don't see my" friends, L.L.Bean tents and gear, bikes , fishing poles and ole 'Beau' the family black lab into the SUV; some even outfitted with small boats and head out for two weeks of 'family' fun and relaxation. Kids race about on one of several sandy beaches building sand castles, picking up shells, Hobie cats take to the bay, families hike the ledges and trails, or visit the "kelp shed" for an ice cream, play ping pong, video games..But there is one thing missing now to complete this Family Kodak Moment in Maine I found out as I stopped by just to say hi and relive old childhood memories : The family now must leave good ole Beau at home! Even though the camping resort has always had a leash law; seems, explained one of the security officers, if a child is riding his bike (ex) and 'Beau' rushes out into one of the car paths that winds its way unobtrusively around the hundreds of campsites, barking and the child should fall from his/her bike, the owners of the island could be sued. The owners are dog lovers themselves and with deep regret they had to implement this new policy. What no family camping vacation without a dog like Beau? No throwing a stick out in the water to fetch after the sunbathers leave the beach? No early morning walks on the deserted beach with Beau?
What..No more campfires? And no more family pets on vacation? The late great Johnny Cash's song comes to mind.. "A Boy Like Sue".
Louis L'Amour, a famous Western author and historian said when out and about (in Indian country) you were NEVER supposed to "gaze into the dancing flames" because that would destroy your night vision. The enemy could sneak up on you and your vision would be impaired until it was too late. He said cowboys and soldiers were taught to "sideways glance" at the flames instead.
Don't know what I remembered that... Carry on!
Sitting around a camp fire singing songs, telling stories and eating, is too family oriented. That's why the liberal RDDB lawyers hate it. It's not about saving forest fires. I defy them to show me any camp ground that has burned down, even though they have hundreds of fires every single day. More houses burn down and they don't use 'fire' anymore.
As well as providing fuel for out-of-control raging wildfires.
All of my kids (19 on down) love the smell, feel, look and taste of a good campfire on a cool morning or late in the evening at a vouz.
Seeing a hundred campfires going over 20-30 acres of land with good food, music, coffee and conversation being shared around each one will make you a believer.
LOL... They even fight over who gets to dig the firepit, and compete with each other about who carries the biggest load of wood for fuel.
...the pit dug in the beach sand, a layer of rocks, a pile of gathered branches and camp wood, the top of the BBQ grill, the kettle boiling with seaweed and water making ready for lobster and clams..what no more campfires?
Fallen limbs take an incredible amount of nitrogen to decay. Most of this nitrogen comes from the soil itself, thus reducing the fertility of the soil. What fallen limbs do is provide a habitat for mosses, lichens, fungi, snails and insects.
So if you like the insects and fungi, leave the limbs on the ground. If you want more fertile ground, burn the limbs and scatter the ashes. (Ashes though they contain little or no nitrogen are high in potassium and do contain phosphorus, both are ingredients in fertilizer.)
When it was the CC Standard Times years ago, the locals called it The Stranded Times.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.