I am spending time with my sister, brother-in-law, and little nephew in the sweet mountain town of Julian CA, about an hour or so from San Diego.
We are in a beautiful wood cabin with tall trees and expansive valley views.
To my delight the cabin has a wood stove which takes me back to wonderful memories of wood cabins on the East Coast.
On Friday, the night we arrived I lit a fire to keep us warm.
On Saturday evening about 18 hours after the first fire it was time to start up the stove once again.
As I opened the small glass door I felt warmth inside, and as I looked more closely I noticed glowing embers.
I paused in a moment of fascination at how intelligent, economical, and resourceful nature really is.
The reality is that starting a fire (before the modern age) was not the easiest of tasks. So instead of having to start from scratch nature decided to give us a break.
Embers create miniature scale combustion to stay hot with their primary chemical energy stored deep inside their center. Without a strong influx of oxygen the yellow, orange, and red glow loose their thermal energy very slowly and don't ignite into a flame.
How amazing! If we can keep embers cozy we have a guarantee and an easy way to start a fire a whole half day later.
I know iPhone's are neat but talk about brilliant technology!