F is for Fire and Firefly

F is for Fires. I don’t mean the horrible, scary burn-down-the-building fires. I mean fires that are contained so that you can enjoy them.

Campfires that toast marshmallows and hot dogs and tofu dogs. Fires in grills for corn and burgers and potatoes. Fires in fireplaces and old-fashioned cook stoves. Even a couple of candles might do.

I like watching the fire burn down from yellow flame to red coal to black and white ashes. All that heat and energy and we’re left with quiet nothingness.

Something for me to contemplate the next time I get into a “sound and fury” situation. Maybe next time, I’ll realize that it will come to nothing and not get upset.

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F is for Firefly

According to the comic strips and blogs I’ve read, fans of the defunct TV series Firefly are angry, soul-destroying maniacs.

I plan to do nothing to contradict that view. I also don’t plan to explain it. Just watch it. If you don’t like it after the episode Safe, you aren’t going to.

Do you want to know how I first discovered Firefly? Of course, you do!

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This was several years ago…a friend dropped by my brother’s house as he often did that summer. This time he had some DVDs of a TV show he liked. We said sure, play it. Nobody has anything in from Netflix. He did and it was this SF/Western hybrid about a bunch of smugglers on a spaceship.

We are rude movie watchers. Loud and argumentative and oafish. So, we made fun of everything we saw in the pilot and the next episode called The Train Job. We liked the bar window though.

Our friend didn’t say much when he left.

Usually, we greet everyone who shows up with much enthusiasm. The next night our friend came over, we stared at him in silence. He said, “What?”

“Where is it?” somebody asked, “That show?”

“Oh, I left it at home. I thought you guys didn’t like it.”

There was more silent staring. Finally, one of us said, “Go get it.”

He turned around and got in his car and drove home to get the DVDs. I think we scared him a bit.

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P.S. Don’t worry about our friend, he’s fine. We loved the show and went to the movie version, Serenity together.