07 May 2009

With the Scent of Woodsmoke

Campfires and camping are almost synonymous to each other. It is a pity if you could not light a small fire while camping. It is a wonderful experience to do a ’chat and music’ session at night closer to a campfire. Campfire is also a good place to share other people’s experience and also to identify hidden talents of your friends.

There are hundreds of songs specifically written for campfires, but you may sing any song that you like. The following song is one of my favourites and it is sung to the tune of famous German love song during the World War 2 - ‘Lily Marleen’

With the scent of woodsmoke drifting in the air,
And the glow of firelight we always love to share,
Visions of camp-fires all return,
And as the logs flame up and burn,
We dream of bygone camp-fires and long for those to come.

Tongues of yellow fire flickering up on high,
Reaching twisting fingers up to a starlit sky,
Voices recall songs old and new,
Songs once dear to our fathers too,
Who dreamed of bygone camp-fires and longed for those to come.

Gently dying embers cast a rosy glow,
Voices slowly sinking to tones so soft and low,
Slowly upon the still night air,
Fall faithful voices hushed in prayer,
That dream of bygone camp-fires and long for those to come.

4 comments:

kalusudda said...

We usually backpack in to the mountains (here it is a little different from SL) and try to stay away from modern day amenities. We were actually trained to camp roughly since we were babies. Two weeks ago, my sisters 2 year old went with us on two day camping trip into the wilderness of Yosemite! Except for a single bug bite, the guy enjoyed it. He was riding on top of backpacks (we have an attachment with brush guards etc.) When ever we stop singing he would kick and jump, so we had to sing. Unfortunately, we do not set campfires anymore as California is dry and the fire danger is too high. But fluorescent lamps give good light :)

Kirigalpoththa said...

I have heard that lots of people do hiking in US. A few of my friends did a 30 mile hike recently in Grand Canyon, which took them about 2-3 days..
Love to hear that your little naphew is hiking since 2! I must say that, he will be a great hiker oneday!! It is a rarity to see such small kids hiking in SL, although I too had a similar experience during one of my recent jaunts. One of my friend took his little son to the top of Bakers Falls at Horton! That frightened me too. He was taking his less than 2 year old son through the thick foliage which I walked with quite difficulty.
In Sri Lanka too it is prohibited to light fires at many places but the danger is less than that of US due to tropical climate.
It is nice to hear your experience. Thank very much!

Harshi said...

Sounds very interesting. About the li'l kids.. I think as long as their safety is assured, hiking will be a great experience for them. Thanks for sharing your stories... both of you. ^__^

Kirigalpoththa said...

Thanks for your comments Harumi!

Yes the safety is the most important thing, whether you are an adult or small kid :)