First I should point out about the fire — it was heartbreaking to lose the trees and everything, but we live down here in an apartment and that made a huge difference.
So what’s the deal about the fireplace?
We bought it shortly after we bought the land 45 years ago, and we used it for a while to burn all the dead wood littering our clearing.
First fall and early winter up on the land. Kaitlin and Andrew starting a fire with wet wood.
We later decided the fireplace was too small for all the burning we had to do, so we started having bonfires in the winter when there was plenty of snow around.
Andy then used the fireplace as a gauge to see how high the snow was.
I was happy to keep it for sentimental reasons. Here’s a drawing Kaitlin made for Andy’s folks:
A picture drawn by Kaitlin about happenings on the land-sent to Andy’s folks.
It brings back warm memories and I’m happy it survived.
September 19, 2021
I love the sketch!!
I do too! It gives a feeling for what life was like up there. I especially like the hisses of the rain hitting the hot metal.
I love the pictures of Kaitlin and her Dad!
and yes. even the one she drew for her grandparents!
I’d known about the fire of course but I don’t think I knew you’ve had the land for 45 years! that’s a long time.
We bought the land in 1976 and we did all sorts of projects together when Kaitlin was growing up. It was a great place to raise a kid even though we lived down here.
Oh, yes, if you were living in a nearby apt. that would make a big difference though a fire that close must have been threatening. Still was quite a loss of all those trees, anything else you might have had in the clearing where the fireplace is.
Here’s a picture of the fireplace
And our half-finished two-story house before they hauled the debris away. The railing was the deck on the second story.
Oh, so you did have a house in the works you were building — that puts an additional heart-breaking aspect on the fire. Guess you weren’t living in it and hopefully didn’t have many personal possessions lost.
We lost a lot of sentimental items that we were storing in the attic. 🙁
Living somewhere else would make a difference but heartbreaking all the same to lose all of that to fire.
Sweet memories to go along with that fireplace. I love the drawing. That’s quite a treasure.
I love the drawing too. 🙂
my favorite is the drawing. love it.. the house photo makes me sadder than the poor burned forest. this had to be heartbreaking and I am thinking it still is. I would like to have a fireplace like that in the yard, so i could make a fire to play with and burn a few pinecones.
That would be fun. Fire pits are also popular nowadays.
I love Kaitlin’s drawing… especially the hiss hiss part!
Me too! I also like her having me say, “Oh my.”
I wondered what you meant by a fireplace. That’s what we’d probably call a wood burner. I love the drawing, especially the hiss hiss.
She did a great job. 🙂
I agree, Kaitlin’s sketch is priceless. “Hiss! Hiss!” “Oh, my!”
Sweet memories; so glad you preserved it!
So am I. 🙂
sad but lovely memories – of times gone by – a long time, since Kaitlin is all grow’ed up and married 🙂
The neat thing is we’re still building family memories up there. Kaitlin and Torben both love it and drive when they come so they can bring the pups.