9-4-08

Cool weather bonfires, a Pinkey tradition that lives on in N.C.

When I was around the age of 12 or so, my dad and I used to burn a lot of dead brush from our woods during the fall and into the winter months. The memories I have of those brisk weekends have stayed with me to this day.
For me, I think, the weekend bonfire was a rite of passage into the beginning stages of adulthood. I remember feeling like a true adult when I was allowed to do some of the things that were normally left to those with more experience.
I found myself carrying an ax, lighting matches and wearing my own knife on my hip. Eventually lighting the fire was handed down to me. I was even able to work the chain saw, drive the Jeep through the woods and if I got hurt while working I could even swear! Life was good.
My father always wanted to set a good example and tried really hard to teach us (my brother, sister and me) how to do things correctly and safely.
One thing he always tried to teach us was how to handle fire. When lighting the bonfire, we always had to make sure that nothing else sitting around the fire would catch and we would have to use a starter log or a bunch of newspaper to get the pile going. Now we all knew that there was a better way to start a fire but it wasn’t the safest and it wasn’t what a father should teach a 12 year old: GAS.
Throw a couple coffee cans full of gas on that pile of wood and WHOOSH! It would be roaring. But no, we had to dance around the pink elephant in the woods.
One Saturday morning I was sleeping in. I know that I wasn’t tired from running the roads on Friday night because I was only twelve or thirteen so maybe I had stayed up late eating Pixi-Stix or something, but either way I was sleeping in.
BOOOOOM !
The windows in my bedroom were shaking, everyone in the house was jolted out of bed and hearts were racing. I heard my mom running down the steps and I ran to my bedroom window. I knew what was going on. Throwing on my jeans, boots and a flannel, I ran out to the woods. Dad finally used gas. The weekend was on!
To this day, the bonfire is something that somehow brings my immediate family together. We don’t get to do them as often as we used to but when we can, it is an event, and oh, yes, we use gas. Lots of gas.
Mom and Dad have sold the house that we grew up in and I am now the only one with property enough to have a large fire. I guess you could say the torch has been passed down to me. I am now the keeper of the flame.
We try to have a big fire around Thanksgiving. Family and friends converge on the Pinkey Compound over the course of a long weekend. Friends and family come down from Maryland. My brother and his girlfriend come down from Philly. Mom and Dad come from Sneads Ferry and Dad always gets on my brother and me for using too much gas. “You’re gonna’ burn the woods down.”
We drag a TV out to the carport to watch football games. Four wheelers are usually around for the kids, although the adults end up taking over later on into the day. We have a great time and I have never heard anyone say “I’m bored.”
No one is thinking about their cell phones and the children don’t even know what an X-Box is for the entire day. Just us and the fire.
By the time the sun has set we have cleaned out the woods, brought out the hot dogs and found our spot on a log by the fire for the night. Everything in the Universe is now at peace and I feel like a 12 year old adult once again.
Bryan Pinkey can be reached at a bonfire near you or at bpinkey@nccox.com.