"The Happening" is the monthly meet-up for cachers in the Herts/Beds/Cambs border area, but all cachers (and other halves and guests!) are very welcome, wherever you come from. This one is 44th in the series.
The Rusty Gun has a large car park and serves food and several ales. More to the point, it has a covered area in the garden with a large fire-pit in its centre. I've asked the pub manager to light the fire for the evening; that will probably trigger torrential rain or a heatwave. Let's hope for something between the two.
Fire
What does that word make you think of?
Something to poke, was my first thought. There is no fire on Earth - or I dare say, beyond it - that can't be improved by thrusting a stick in and moving stuff around for no discernible purpose. I had thought that was a blokey thing but recent research reveals it to be shared by us all.
Moving swiftly on, I looked to "disambiguate" the word and found that fire:
- is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion. Something to poke then.
- Was returned to humans by Prometheus after it was taken from them by nasty Zeus.
- is the name of three musical groups
- contributes to the names of at least 11 albums and thirty-three songs
- ...and seven films
- is the name of eleven comics, books or printed stories
- has at least six references in modern technology, four of them by one company associated with Brazilian rainforests
- ...
I could go on. Compared to the real thing, reading about fire is quite boring, isn't it?
So, I'll finish with my favourite fire story in which the Great-and-Good (with a rather dodgy name) got his comeuppance. I quote verbatim from a common source:
Heraclitus regarded the soul as being a mixture of fire and water, with fire being the more noble part and water the ignoble aspect. He believed the goal of the soul is to be rid of water and become pure fire: the dry soul is the best and it is worldly pleasures that make the soul "moist". He was known as the "weeping philosopher" and died of hydropsy, a swelling due to abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin.
Served him right, I say.
Do come and give the fire a poke. It might re-balance your soul's moisture, should the worldly pleasures exceed expectations.