Fire on the mount and run boy, run.

At the end of the month, I'm going to a fire-spinning workshopping weekend.  It's in the mountains.  For three days there will be workshops on a multitude of different topics.  After all of that, there will be large fire circles long into the night.  Am I excited?  Of course.  But I had forgotten how much work it is to prepare for outside living.

I needed shelter for two people.  Easy option would be to get a cheap tent.  Of course, I decided to spring for the more expensive and heavy Springbar because I wanted a structure that could potentially survive Burning Man.  Still, I'm going to be super-comfy for three days.  Sleeping bags, pads, and liners.  Borrowed, bought, and scraped together.  Stove and cooking implements.  Borrowed, and bringing heavy cast iron pans.  Why?  Because I can.  I still need to add in clothing, fire tools, food, and other miscellanea.  Did I mention that I'm not sure just how far I'm trekking all this in?  Yeah, setup and take down is not going to be enjoyable.  But it will be damn comfy. 

Honestly, "roughing it" doesn't need to be too rough for me.  I'm not camping because I want to have the minimal pack of stuff around me.  I just love being in a densely wooded area, without the concrete walls I normally call home.  I like looking up at the sky without electric light pollution and seeing the stars in all their glory.  I like how food tastes when I've been out walking and breathing fresh air for hours.  Besides, I'm going to be using a lot of mental and physical energy.  I'm going to want to sleep well.

Because I'm going to be learning how to spin fire better.  I'm going to add to my staff knowledge with martial art and double staff.  I'll need a notebook to keep everything I learn.  I'll probably burn myself a little.  But it'll be so worth it.  There is something so primal to fire, so exhilarating to spin it around my body.  It's become such a normal part of my life that I forget that I didn't do it for most of my 30 years on this earth.  It's hard to express what it is in prose.  One day I'll have to do poetry around it.  Keep your eyes peeled.

I'm still here,

LT

A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world.

Paul Dudley White