Fire

Fr. Jerome likes to build fires while camping.  Well, for all I know, he likes to build fires at other times, too, but we’ve only seen him build fires while camping.  Hannah took the opportunity of camping with him again to hone her fire-starting skills – she got a refresher course on the newspaper knots that are Fr. Jerome’s signature, and he showed her how to set up the kindling so that the fire gets off to a good start. 

It was Simeon, however, who was most powerfully affected by the fire this year.  Last year I don’t think he even saw the fires, since he and I retired to our RV earlier in the evening.  This year, he saw and appreciated them.  And he learned to get out of the smoke when the wind shifted.  And every morning, when he saw Fr. Jerome, he would say, “Want to make a fire!”

Fr. Jerome was definitely pleased to have a new enthusiast, and even taught Simeon an all-important phrase.  So now, we have the dubious distinction of having a son who thinks it’s very amusing to say, “Fire. Ugh.”