Have you ever watched a fire? I don't mean "Have you looked at a fire" or "Have you seen a fire?".

[Atticus]

Have you "watched" a fire; looked into it long enough to let the undulating orange flames begin to mesmerize you; free your buttoned-down mind to drift and wander and go to places it has been away from too long?

Now, will be the first to admit that it helps to pull the cork out of a bottle of something smooth and strong to sip as you stare into the glowing ever changing canyons of what used to be mere wood, but it isn't really necessary. The only requirement is that you relax and surrender your conscious mind to serendipity; you let your mind travel down whatever paths present themselves.

I think there is something primeval about a fire that stirs me to appreciate that, as I sit before it, I am warm and dry and really want for nothing. I am safe and with those who care about me. And, I consider how many in this world are not so blessed.

Whether it is the warmth of the fireplace or the rye whiskey, I sleep better after an evening before the fire. And, as the fire dies and my bed beckons, a fragment of a poem read long ago speaks to me again: "And blue bleak embers, ah my dear, fall, gall themselves and gash gold-vermilion".

Hope your evening goes as well as mine is.

[Historic NY]

1. Yes

Have you ever watch a house burn, every little crackle, ever little ember, dark thickening smoke, changing colors of red-to- orange-to-blue-to-white. Why yes, I have

[we can do it]

3. W T F?

[mnhtnbb]

24. Yes.

And after I watched our house burn down I could no longer sit in front of a wood burning fireplace and watch a fire even though before I watched our house burn down I used to love watching fires in the fireplace.

[Beringia]

2. My father once had the idea

of taking a picture of a fire and focusing on the middle of the fire. He thought it was genius brilliant. He had been smoking pot. I don't think the idea was as inspiring to him the next day when he woke up.

[SonofDonald]

9. You have to live

In the moment

I have a fire every night during winter and have been known to inhale.

Pretty

[ariadne0614]

4. This reminded me of 7th grade science class.

Our first homework assignment on day one was to watch a candle flame and make a list of everything we noticed about it. I was amazed at how long my list was. That was 58 yers ago, and I never forgot the experience. I think it changed the way my mind worked.

[Botany]

5. "And blue bleak embers, ah my dear, fall, gall themselves and gash gold-vermilion".

and yes I have watched fires ... thanx for posting

[elleng]

26. I caught this morning morning's minion, kingdom of daylight's dauphin,

dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!

[ThoughtCriminal]

6. Yeah, it's what we did before TV and the internet

We were experts on fire dynamics.

P.S. re: Campfires:

It is more important to know how to properly put one out, than how to start one.

[Skittles]

7. sent by a fireman buddy in Australia

doubt I would feel.....mesmerized :O

https://www.facebook.com/FirefighterDispatch/videos/792963264509208/UzpfSTE5OTc0Mzg1NjcxNjE3MzoyODcwOTU2MTIyOTI4MjUz/

[Pachamama]

28. Sadly....

The destructive power of its force...

[pansypoo53219]

8. screw the yellow flames. i watch the blue and red embers. bon fires w/glowing dots flying away.

that i painted. as big as a bonfire.

[WhiteTara]

10. I spent the day watching fire

It was the most well mannered fire I've ever set and watched all day long. I cooked hot dogs on the coal bed and now I'm going to wash the smoke from my hair and body and go to bed.

[burrowowl]

14. Blood sausage and apples

Yum! Yum!
Once cooked a whole sheep on pit embers, takes the better part of the day.

[George II]

11. It's the whiskey!!

Actually I've sat in a dark room with a fire going, it's very relaxing.

[abqtommy]

12. I read a report by an archaeologist who stated that 1 million years ago there is some evidence

of the controlled use of fire by humans and that by 500 thousand years ago the controlled use of fire was universal for humans. That's a long history and the controlled use of fire was the basis of all our technical advances. I'm sure that humans have a built-in genetic appreciation and reverence for fire, just as you've described.

[Leith]

13. Yes

It was mesmerizing and very relaxing. I don't remember if any alcohol was involved, but I watched the different shapes of the flames and how they changed completely when a log fell.

Yeah, I get ya. And a gas fire is very unsatisfying.

[scarletwoman]

15. Thank you for the poetry... beautiful. (nt)

[DanieRains]

16. Yes Lots

I go to my place up the Twisp River and do "fire therapy" as I call it all I can. A 200 mile drive.

Life here in Seattle is hectic and maddening.

We all need as much fire therapy as possible.

[Hekate]

17. Yea. And thank you for bringing Gerard Manley Hopkins...

...and his sprung rhythms (sprung rhymes?) into it.

[Atticus]

20. You not only appreciate Hopkins but have also actually heard of "sprung rhythms"? More reasons

to always read your posts.

Thanks.

[flying rabbit]

18. Nature's TV nt

[highplainsdem]

19. Discover: "Why is sitting by a fire so relaxing? Evolution may hold the key."

https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/why-is-sitting-by-a-fire-so-relaxing-evolution-may-hold-the-key


And that links to this:

"Hearth and campfire influences on arterial blood pressure: defraying the costs of the social brain through fireside relaxation."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25387270

[LisaL]

21. Yep, my neighbors townhouse right behind mine caught on fire.

[hunter]

22. Just turned five I started a "campfire" in the kindergarten sand box.

My mom first caught me playing with matches when I was two.

Found out where my dad hid his propane torch in second grade.

I was born to watch fire.

It's a miracle I didn't burn down our house as a kid.

[lunatica]

23. These days I light the fire every day

And when it gets dark I don’t turn any lights on. Don’t need them.

And my cat lies in front of the fire, in turn stretching out or curling into himself like cats do and it’s a joy to watch it all as if it were a play.

My cat teaches me the importance and the luxury of the moments.

[tblue37]

25. That's the final line of one of my favorites: Gerard Manley Hopkins' exquisite "The Windhover." nt

[Pachamama]

27. Thank you for this reminder...

https://m.

[SeattleVet]

29. When I lived in NY I loved to sit in front of a fire in the living room.

(Really pissed off the landlord to no end, since there was no fireplace.)

[ProfessorGAC]

30. Many Times!

I concur with your feelings about watching a fire.

[dewsgirl]

31. Yes many, many times.

[parkia00]

32. I love watching fire!

It's beautiful, relaxing, every moment it paints and repaints itself like an infinite warm oil painting.

When I was little, I meticulously built a small town of old wooden roof shingles. There were homes with individual rooms and ceilings, barns, huts, and a double story general store. I made "silhouettes" of the town folks from sections of wooden ice cream sticks and placed them around town and inside the buildings. At the edge of the town I constructed a tripod tower made of sticks. On top of that tower, I placed a can filled with gasoline. I started a fire at the base of one of the tripod mast of the tower ensuring that the tower will fall in the direction of the town if the legs were to "give way". In the center of the town square I made another miniature bonfire with some of my townsfolk gathered round for a BBQ. I stepped back and watched intently.

It took longer than I had expected, but eventually the tower started to lean in the predicted angle. In time the inevitable happened as the top heavy tower fell to the forces of physics. The can, with an open top and filled with gasoline ejected it's contents in the town's direction and made a beeline straight to the BBQ gathering of townsfolk like a tidal wave. The ensuring calamity that ensured resembled an orange expanding lily pad of flame which crashed into the town's various structures and burst into flames. There was so much to see at different points of the town. The most memorable image was at one of the house windows. The interior was engulfed and flames was licking out of the windows. One of the townsfolk was standing at the window peering out, perfectly silhouetted against the bright flame as it was enveloped.

I had also put fire crackers in the general store to liven things up. To my surprise, when it finally went off, it blew up the rear section of the store and actually extinguished the fire in and around the building! Resulting in the general store being one of only two structures not completely destroyed by the flames. The other being, surprisingly the two remaining tripods of the tower.

Overall it was an interesting experience. I got into trouble the next day for creating a fairly large burn spot in the back garden. But I figured a small fire was far more interesting to watch than a larger one.

A slow flame as it slowly eats away at a piece of wood is mesmerizing.