Bonfire

Bonfire

Since moving to Holyrood over 30 years ago, I have had hundreds, if not thousands of bonfires in winter. In the beginning I used to cut windfalls with my trusty bucksaw, then burn the branches to clean up the forest floor and use the dry wood in my fireplace. My young sons used to accompany me and,as you can imagine, they loved the bonfires. Often we would have a "boil-up" and cook beans, bacon and a pot of tea. Not only was it good exercise and helped keep the forest clean, it gave us a great deal of quality time together. They both still enjoy bonfires today, as do I.

After we cleaned up the trees that blew down during the hurricane last September, I dragged the branches and piled them in a convenient location for a bonfire once we had a bit of snow. December 1, after a good snowfall, I decided to burn them. Today's photos show the pile of branches under the snow, the fire and the sequence ends with a view of the fire as it died down. In the second-last photo, you can see my house in the background. It took just over 2 hours to burn the branches.

I don't have photos, but I've had more than a dozen fires around my property this winter and burned a LOT of branches. It is good exercise for me and there is something peaceful about a good bonfire.

I wonder how many of you enjoy a good bonfire every now and again?

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