The slow burn

Four guys slump in collapsible chairs, Silver Bullets in armrest slots, under the redwoods. It’s 8:15, after a meal of burgers and corn-jicama salad, and the conversation turns to the fire. Always to the fire. Over the next three hours, concern for its well-being punctuates talk about surfing, sailing and how Lewis and Clark survived without Gore-Tex. Their abridged dialogue, recorded in a county park near La Honda, Calif., on June 19, goes like this:

Doug: I don’t know, should I give it more support? Yeah, I’m giving it support.

Steve: The hotter the fire, the lesser the smoke.

Manny: I bet if you have a 1,000-degree fire, you’d have no smoke.

Pat: Whoever put the Big One [an unsplit log] in, I thought: a mistake. Now I’m a believer.

Doug: Yeah, it had to go.

Manny: I’m with you, bro.

Doug: I’m looking at some shifting here. I’m looking at dropping a log on top.

Pat: What’s causing the smoke?

Manny: Make it bigger.

Steve: Get some real dry wood in there. Get some oak.

Manny: Mix your woods. Hopefully, it will burn a little bit hotter.

Pat: There’s too much wood.

Doug: No there ain’t. I’m tending this fire [as he cranks the Big One clockwise with a stick]. Watch and learn. The Big One will become dust.

Manny: That’s Joe [referring to the Big One]. Now all we need to do is make sure Joe is the center of the stage.

Steve: That is it. That is your perfect configuration.

Pat: That’s what you want.

Doug [with a flourish in his voice]: No smoke.

Manny: That’s a nice hot fire. The original Joe, down below.

[Marshmallows impregnated by wives with chocolate chips hover on sticks over Joe.]

Steve: Joe might be ready for a kick, a whack to break him up.

Manny: Old Joe, he was a good log.

Doug: He’ll be around in the morning to fire up our hash browns.

*

-- Pamm Higgins