.
For those unfamiliar with the back history on this, here's a quick rundown; back in '92 (or was it '93?), my first Labor Day trip (or was it my second? Holy crap, it was my second. God Damn you, Alzheimer's!!!) Anyway, I'd checked out what had been passing for a fire pit and felt that something was missing. Mainly; a real fire pit. What had been there was just a ring of stones on the ground, but for this majorly amazing party event, what was needed was something bigger. Better. Grander! And I had just the tools to do it. (Or should I say; I was just the tool to do it?)
.
I grabbed shovels, pry bars, pick axes, etc. Anything that would help achieve the grand vision I had in mind. A vision that entailed nothing more than one action; DIG! (But of course, I got a bit carried away...) Close to 8 hours later, I emerged from the earth and surveyed what I'd done. Before me lay a hole approximately 10 feet across and 4 feet deep. Doesn't sound so impressive, does it? 8 hours to dig that? But before you go judging me Jerky, let me add that this land is basically granite and ledge. In fact, the outer boundaries of the camping clearing are an old quarry. Yeah, so take that and stick it somewhere dark and unpleasant.
.
Anyway, even with a hole that size, I still wasn't satisfied. This thing had to be instrumental in keeping all embers and flying ash from ascending into the trees, as forest fires were something to definitely be wary of, deep in the woods (as the clearing is). So, I took all the large rocks that I'd pulled from the ground and used them to line the edge of the pit, adding another 1+ foot to the wall height. Sweet!! Now THIS was a fire pit! Look, you can even see it from SPACE!! (Courtesy of Google Maps).
Fast forward later that evening. The sun had set, the crowd had gathered, the bonfire had been blazing for a few hours and spirits were high. And now for the really surprising part; I hadn't had anything to drink all day! Ha ha, no really. Ok, when you're done laughing, pick yourself up off the floor and bear with me.
.
I only cracked my first beer when we began with the annual knighting and toasting ceremony, followed by the poems, etc. After that was completed, I'd had maybe 3 beers. And that's when the bad stuff happened. I was stepping around one of my friends by the pit's edge and I tripped on some wood on the ground. I tried to catch my footing...only to have the rocks (that I'd only a few hours earlier placed around the edge) take out my other leg, and I pitched head first into the fire.
.
I just remembered that I'd said this would be a "quick" back history so I'll wrap this up. Russ took me to the hospital (another full story in itself, and for another time) and I got bandaged up (2nd and 3rd degree burns), but with a lot of luck, I healed up nicely and only have a couple of white spots on my arm.
.
But in all fairness, the firepit has outlived its uselfulness. It hasn't been used in years due in part to a lot of dry seasons, as well as having been used as a trash receptacle for all kinds of refuse. There's just a lot of crap in there that really shouldn't be burned, and it's not worth it to try hauling it out of there. Besides, it's hogging up some prime tenting space, not to mention that a much smaller (normal-sized) pit will work just fine. (But I don't think they're going to let me dig it this time.)
.
While filling the pit in will signal the closing of another chapter on the Labor Day experience, it'll also be the start of a new one. The past couple of years have seen a rebirth of interest, due in no small part to all the work that is going on up there by our gracious hosts.
.
11 sleeps until we set foot there once again...
.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
No comments:
Post a Comment