polka dot suitcase

So if you’re a faithful reader, you know that even though I grew up in the Northeast and could practically play out in the snow in bare feet, I’ve now lived in the South too long. With the freakish cold weather we’ve been having down here, I’m miserable. COLD. Even the ends of my hair feel the cold. I don’t know how I did it all those years.

But happy, happy days arrived last week: Warmth! 60 degree temps for a couple days in a row. And this week’s forecast: Not freezing cold. Yippee! One problem, though, is that my camping lust went through the roof. Problem solved…we had a backyard campfire.

My camping cookware has been sitting in the laundry room, teasing me. And I noticed my Dutch oven, even after I dutifully oiled it after last use, was kind of sticky. So the campfire gave me an opportunity to re-season it. While I was at it, the pie irons looked forelorn at being left behind, so I brought them out, too. Had to test-drive a recipe for lemon merangue pie (lemon pie filling with marshmallow, toasted in the pie iron). And of course the hot dog roasters started josteling around, begging to come play, too, so we had to use them. What’s a campfire without s’mores? Sure, brought those out, too.

And after all the food was gone, a little chill started creeping in (it’s still January, after all), so we performed the best campfire tradition: Sat around the fire and just chatted. Why is it that you have the best conversations around a fire?

Anyhoo…spring can’t come fast enough for me. This was a teaser; a little promise that it’s coming. And after our pre-camping campfire, I’d say we’re ready for it!