We’ve come to quite appreciate this lightweight, portable metal firepit that Sam gave us a few years ago. Whether with guests or for just Randa and me, it’s provided a thoroughly enjoyable focus point for entertaining and conversation. With our continued caution about COVID, it’s been especially useful for outdoor visitations.

Though not quite sufficient for comfortable assembly in the sub-Arctic temperatures we’ve had the past couple of weeks, it serves quite well for the more temperate marks in the above-freezing category. A nice jacket, a chair close to the fire and a good supply of deadstand maple has worked out right well for visiting with a few friends.

Eventually, we hope that vaccinations will bring us a quite welcome return to indoor visitations. But it is not just in the convenience of soft seats and warm walls that relationships are shaped and strengthened. And if for some season we have to adapt more determinedly to incorporate the changes of life, let us be sure that we do so with a view to the things that truly matter. And with greater appreciation.

H. Arnett

2/24/21