Seven things about campfires

1. Old dried up Christmas trees are the most wonderful things to see thrown onto a campfire. I would say it rivals... or may be better than fireworks.
2. Smores are only to be eaten near a fire and prepared at it. Preferably with a stick you just found in the dark and you no longer care about dirt or worms. Just melted chocolately goodness. (Sidebar: Usually I do not find the need to go all foodnetwork on my smores -- the plain ol hershey will do just fine -- but I admit the extra wow factor for me happens when I used the special darks in the Hersheys assorted minatures)
3. Conversations are just better near a fire. I think silences are more comfortable too. People stare into the fire and not talk - and its really ok.
4. I love the symbolism of burning old letters or notebooks in the fire -- but have never brought myself to do it.
5. A gathering is automatically assured to be more memorable and wonderful if it includes one.
6. I kinda love the smell of the campfire on my clothes after I leave it. If I could, most times I would sit there until it burned down to its embers all orange and wicked in the dark. Taking a sense of it with me reminds me that someday I probably will.
   
7. I like how campfires are a common experience for most people: fascinating, calming, inspiring, and brings you back to an almost primitive place you forget you have inside you. It makes you feel a little less alone, or at least it does for me.