November 2: Bonfire

While most people were making last minute stops to the polls and with the weather absolutely perfect in southern California, my mom, dad, and I loaded up the truck with scrap wood and drove down to the beach to have an early November bonfire. We left the house around four in the afternoon, sailed past the rush-hour traffic heading out of downtown to the suburbs of San Diego, and arrived to a completely vacant bay.

Within minutes of unloading the truck, we had our little tepee of kindling crackling and popping as the young flames licked the dry wood. We continued to toss bark and other small pieces of wood on to the pile and before long, we had a pretty nice fire going.

As the sun sank lower and lower over the horizon, we watched San Diego State's crew row eights, quads, and doubles. We stared in awe as a man had his remote-controlled airplane do flips and rolls over the water. We watched the sailboats and we watched the birds; alone. We spent a good four hours on the beach and only once did we see another bonfire and it was wonderful. We didn't have to hear any boom boxes or worry that someone was going to open their car door into the side of our truck. It was absolutely wonderful having the entire place to ourselves.

One of the many conversation topics that kept arising was how long we thought it would take to get a fire ring on a Saturday or Sunday. We all agreed that it would be pretty difficult to find one for the upcoming weekend and absolutely impossible in the summer. We couldn't believe we were the only ones there with the weather being so beautiful and the views so clear.

In a word, the night was perfect. We burned everything we had (including the hair on my right wrist) and I never even considered putting my sweatshirt on. It was one of those nights that simply went flawlessly. It made me remember how much I love bonfires and how I wish I could have them more often. I don't know if there are any places in Austin to have one, but I definitely need to look for one.