Ah, family. Nothing says holidays like traveling.  Luckily modern times have removed the fun depicted by the Oswald’s.  There are no more sticky seats, no more loud un-ACed cabs, and no more 55mph road ways.  Traveling for the holidays is made so much easier with cruise control, a quietly chilled cab, and seats and space for all involved.  This is GREAT except for the dog.  She does not understand why she cannot ride on the bench seat and has been relegated to the floor.  More importantly she does not understand why she is in the back. Hello, Princess seat in the front, remember??

And like all other holidays known to South Texas, one day it is summer and the next it is winter.  Not knowing what the weather will hold makes it all the more fun.  It requires two full sets of clothing: winter and summer.  And with an itinerary of projects and life skills to teach and complete over this trip, it was dicey on what to pack and what not to pack.  On a trip to the local creek to search out fossils, the Kid thought he was gonna melt.  And of course, the unprepared child he is, left without proper preparations.  He took no water, no sunscreen, no hat.  I, on the other hand, had a water bottle and hat.  Of course, I never not wear a hat but still. Neither of us had sunscreen as nobody planned for such intense summer sun in December.  Drat.  I could feel pink arms and face before we even left on foot.

Upon return to the family casa, the Kid decided he wanted to further enhance his life skills by starting a fire without the use of propellant.  This depending on what member of the family you ask can vary from premade fire starters, lighter fluid over sticks and twigs, or gasoline/diesel in a can under logs.  He had read last week about starting a fire with kindling, twigs, sticks, and logs and was determined to do successfully.  What he did not read was how to properly build such fire.

For his first time, and without any assistance, I think he did fairly well.  He at least had a flame. While unsuccessful in maintaining said flame after the newspaper burned out, I promised him I would teach him the ways.  It has been a solid 20 years since I have stated a fire without any fire enhancers and the Kid and the Planner and the Doubter had their doubts.  Hey, once learned, the skills may dull but can they can easily be sharpened. Okay, I was worried a little, too.

Christmas Eve dawned bright and clear and cold.  Knowing it would quickly warm up, we took off to search for river rocks for an art project for a homesick friend.  What better place to search for river rocks than at a river, right.  Cause as it turns out, the dry creek bed did not have a single smooth rock for painting but we did find some fantastic snail and mussel fossils. In order for river rocks to gain the smoothness needed for painting surfaces, the rock must be constantly at wash.  The dry creek bed only has water when in floods so the rocks are still very jagged and rough.  The Pedernales River on the hand has yet to run dry and its base is limestone bedding making the possibilities fair for rock discovery. Not wanting to collect rocks, the Kid was more content to throw sticks upstream and watch them run through the culvert and across the small set of rapids down stream.  I collected rocks until my pant pockets bulged.

As promised upon return, the warm weather was abound and it was time to start a fire.  If you have ever started a fire from just natural detritus, then you know it takes a lot of time to prepare for a fire.  One must find in abundance the following: dried grasses, twigs the size of children’s fingers, twigs the size of adult fingers, sticks the size of children’s wrist, sticks the size of adult wrist, then logs in sizes from a soda can to a liter bottle.

Then when the fire is fully sustained can logs be added.  If logs are added to soon it will smother the coals and the fire will die out.  Once the fire dies out or is smoothed the whole process must begin again starting with small twigs and working forward.  A nice bed of coals and proper air flow is the key to campfire success.

With the fire fully prepared, the Kid then collected dead logs.  Unlike most campers, the collecting of all twigs, sticks, and logs was made easy by the huge dead oak tree directly behind the fire ring.  Having an understanding and knowledge on how to handle his fire, the Kid was left to burn wood until his heart was content.  Too bad the weather was too warm to sit around and enjoy!  What a fabulous way to spend the holiday making a fire with your trusty dog at your side.