The Fire of Contentment - A Memory

Remember the time we went down the paddock at dusk and lit a fire? I remember we loaded the trailer up with rose clippings and weeds from the garden, and towed it behind the trusty mower to the place where the fire was to be. You tried to start a fire, but it kept going out. Finally, it got down to the last match; it had to get going this time. And it did. 

I rushed around taking photos; capturing the sunset through the pine trees and the light of the flames on your faces. We added dead leaves and pieces of bark, and the fire grew. We piled on the prunings from the trailer and watched as they smoked, burst into flame, and sank as ashes. The night grew darker, the fire grew larger, and I continued taking photos. 

But eventually, I put the camera down. We sat on our haunches around the fire, poking sticks into it and watching them burn. We laughed at each other’s antics; we chatted about superficial things and progressed to deeper topics. We shared our thoughts, and we sat in companionable silence.  

Finally, the last of the rose prunings and weeds were on the fire. We scraped in the edges, and felt the warmth one last time. Then we hopped back into the trailer, and the mower chugged up the hill home. We looked back at the glowing pile, and I believe we were feeling the same way:  

deeply content.

~~~

I wrote those words a little over three years ago. Today I found the photos I took that evening, and something about the memory still speaks contentment in my soul. My siblings and I have changed; life has moved on. We didn’t have any campfires this season, and I kind of missed it. But I have the faces in the photos, though they are more grown up. I have the same place to call home. I still have the choice to be content, and cosy memories like this one remind me that life is a beautiful gift and sometimes its extravagance can only be seen in hindsight. 

What’s one of your favourite memories? Do you miss those childhood days, or am I extra nostalgic? How do you choose contentment?