Sometimes you have to stir the fire
I will be working away and suddenly notice that I don’t hear the fire. I know I just added logs.
When I go to check on the fire, I see that the logs have settled together, blocking the air that allows the logs to burn hot.
It usually takes just a bit of nudging with the poker to open up a bit of space for air to bring the fire back to life.
I was stirring the fire a day or so ago and a blog post on Sunny Rising Leather titled Throwing Oranges came to mind.
From the post:
…what we need to do to get off our well-worn path of frustration is to “Throw an orange”, and I guess I meant we’d follow the orange we…just…threw (?) It makes total sense in my mind..
Perhaps it meant that we distract ourselves with something bright and different and watch where it lands, somewhere completely foreign and exotic compared to our constant.
The post was written in November, after the election and as the economic crisis was in the forefront of the news. The comments to the post are moving as well – particularly Naomi’s. But the thought and the followup is that we may all have to make adjustments in what we do – not just a spending less thing, but a “what do I do for a living” thing. For many, it might be a time of not finding employment “as usual”…and so what are the alternatives?
The world is not going to and has not come grinding to a halt. There will be things that need doing, opportunities maybe outside of our normal “work”. Those that are willing to “throw oranges” ….or “stir the fire” may find that needing to do that fans the flames of their lives.
Stirring the fire, moving the logs – [the ordinary or usual things of our lives] – so that the coals – [our hopes, dreams, desires] – can breathe and come to life strong and bright. Or perhaps stirring the fire so that our hopes, dreams and desires or another way are visible.
This last post of 2008 does come from the front porch. A blustery wind is blowing in the tree tops but it is coming from the south and feels warm…ish. It is snowing, but the temperature is 34. It is supposed to get cold behind the warm front of this next storm, but at the moment, the temperature is at odds with the sound and sight of blowing snow and howling wind. Perfect, in my mind, for this post.
To close: Bob and Karl…veterans of dealing with life turned upside down…
A Happy, Warm, Wonderful NEW year to all – From the Front Porch.