A Roaring Success!

Dear Frank,

I’ve been enjoying a fire in the fireplace this morning and it has been so satisfying to see the dreamy results of setting it ablaze successfully! This hasn’t always been the case. In the past, I’ve watched with disappointment as the flames quickly dwindled down to nothing but lonely logs, whom I’m certain were wondering what I was thinking!  So, this morning’s newfound success has left me with the desire to give more time and attention to building fires in other areas of my life.

It all started in wanting to learn how to simply light a handsome fire that would (please-oh-please) flourish. I watched my son-in-law do this with ease at their lodge in North Carolina. During our last trip there for the holidays, during two full weeks of delightfully cold mountain air, I studiously observed his every fire-building step. I also watched as the fire would diminish, to see his process for reviving it, then started asking questions, to learn. Now, this week at Casa Alfaro, I’m having the fabulous opportunity to hone my abilities at creating a beauteous blaze of flames! 

The trick, like most all things, is to plan your foundation well. If you’re like me, there’s such an urge to rush and get it done, but I’m now taking a deep breath, checking in, so to speak, and knowing that I want to give this undertaking plenty of time   

What I learned the hard way: Be sure you strengthen and fortify well your understructure. Then, the odds are heightened that your upperstructure will glow with victory. This same method seems to do the trick, too, when planning the decor of a room, cooking a pot roast, or sealing an investment deal.

There are many ways to structure your underpinning, but one idea is to begin with the innovative things that will ignite the situation. In the case of a fire, I am first laying down loosely crumpled paper that easily catches fire. It’s much like one would do at the beginning of a brainstorming meeting; use the ideas that’ll provide the most effective start, light a match under them, giving everyone a chance to participate and share in the development as a group. Same time: we’re honoring the creativity and abilities of one another. As a chronic, independent do-it-yourselfer, I have a lot to learn here.

And, btw, regarding the question “what’s in it for me?” – as added bonus – you can bet your bottom dollar that honoring others will inure to your own personal benefit.  

In the design of this home in Mexico, each space has had a good foundation of creativity and planning as each phase builds on the next. It’s coming together magnificently, step by step, with the spirited collaboration of everyone single person involved. 

So, back to my fire: Next would come the kindling. I’ve found that I need to use more than I realized! I’m seeing that the kindling likes to be friends with the paper. Together, they make a powerful pair, increasing the potency of the process. Working together = power. Plus, it allows creativity to burn more brightly.

Now, I build a teepee of larger logs. Lee taught me that. The pieces of wood can brace (and even embrace) each other as they form a substantial structure together. Their flames marry with their colleagues to create a glorious inferno, a masterpiece of warmth, and a triumphant collaboration, providing the glowing end result.

A fun little aside is that this well-planned fire allows for something else that’s truly marvelous. The experience for me this morning was indeed dramatic and wondrous. Here ‘tis:  One can extinguish anything that’s bothersome! Woohoo! I found that if my ideas are not quite effective enough, they can simply be thrown onto the flames to go to their timely death (much like what can happen with a bad idea at a brainstorming session)!  For me, as you’ll see in the photo below, I took my stupid sketch of a room layout I’d worked on, wadded it up and threw it atop the burning logs. It was quite satisfying, even cathartic, to see it swallowed up. Of course, it created all sorts of sudden excitement among the flames, (looky, looky, we have a visitor!)  The party, however, was short-lived when their guest disappeared rapidly into an unrecognizable pile of black ashes. Burn, you foolish piece of garbage!  Merrily, I grabbed some graph paper to start afresh with a much better idea.

An added plus:  Happily, when a project like this becomes a roaring success, (your fire, that planning meeting, or other endeavor) you’ll hear some pops and snaps that sound a lot like applause.  

So, here I sit by the fire, sketching my thoughts and thinking of you. How good it feels, as I enjoy its warmth. Turns out, it was worth it to start thoughtfully and build up, step by step.  

There you have it: my rendition of how to start and enjoy a fire.

Love,

Jane