Pretty much OT, but kinda interesting: “Born To Be Wild” was written by Mars Bonfire.
Has to be bigger than a campfire, otherwise it’s just a campfire.
That would mean marshmallows for breakfast. I speak from experience.
You’re not lighting your bonfires early enough.
Hmmm. We have Minnesota, “not far from Minnesota”, and Ontario–which borders MN. Pattern?
Those are just sad. I think any difference is going to be rural/(sub)urban rather than regional. It’s just not possible to have a proper bonfire in town. Wisconsinite here, and while I live in the city now, I grew up in the country and while our firepit out back is nice, it’s no bonfire.
I grew up in Sandy Eggo during the 1970’s and was partying on the beach (C.B., I.B., O.B., M.B., P.B., La Jolla, Torrey; we never had two in a row at the same place) during the summers in the 1980’s. Me and the buddies who were still in town after high school graduation would go early, scavenge the cement fire rings that were set up along the beach every few dozen yards for groups to have a cozy fire to gather around and keep the fog at bay, and relocate three of the rings to the site of a relatively central one. Those for rings would be our outer corner markers and we’d blast the radio and have a few dozen friends and. . . and friends-of-friends-of-friends-of-friends all gather around and talk and dance and drink and eat and have a great time. Roughly around midnight, we’d unload pallets from at least five pick-up trucks into the middle of the four fire rings and light them up. Then the party would REALLY begin!
The light from that feral foolishness they do Northwestern Nevada is like a firefly compared to the bonfire we were doing on the shores of Sandy Eggo. We just didn’t have any particular agenda or theme behind our efforts.
—G!
Well they call me the breeze!
I keep blowin’ down the road.
– JJ. Cale (covered by Lynrd Skynrd)
Call Me the Breeze
Second Helping (1974)
But the test is not naked illumination, but rather the nudity illuminated.
Notice how B.B.* is not in my list. It would have shown up between La Jolla and Torrey…:dubious:
–G!
I got that green light ahead
I got to keep movin’ on
[COLOR=White]…–J.J. Cale (Covered by Lynrd Skynrd)
…Call me the Breeze
…Second Helpings (1974)[/COLOR]
Some vanities, perhaps…
I would say if it’s still smoldering at noon when you wake up, it’s called a bonfire.
Once I knew guys that once a year would host “Woodstick” with about 20 kegs of beer and you bought your plastic cup.
One year they had a stack of telephone poles taller than me. Every now and again about 10 guys would throw one on the fire. Somehow, almost inevitably the sparks jumped and the whole pile went up at once. Fuck me, is the only way to describe that. I saw a barn full of hay burn to the ground that wasn’t that intense.
So where does one get a truckload of telephone poles?..
Once upon a time in the long, long ago we went camping at Indian Key Fill in the Florida Keys. It was Labor Day weekend and an ongoing project to replace wooden utility poles along the Overseas Highway was closed for the holiday. Neatly stacked in two separate piles were more than fifty big fat sixty foot poles. We were very grateful for the consideration since it meant we didn’t have to search for firewood. We arrived on Friday and by the time we left on Monday there was hardly a scrap of pole left on the island. That lovely wood, soaked in pitch as a preservative, burned beautifully! We put 4 together with ends touching like spokes on a wheel and pushed them in as they burned. It was the traditional Miccosukee cooking fire, just with bigger than normal logs. We thought that only fitting since we were practically on the site of the Indian Key Massacre.
If it’s just any old outdoor fire on the ground just for the heck of it, that’s a campfire.
It only becomes a bonfire if it’s either really big, or it has some sort of ceremonial significance. Like, if you’re an expat Brit celebrating the old Guy, and the best you can do is a little fire a couple of feet across in your backyard firepit, then that can count. But if it’s just a “why not?” fire, then it needs to be at least big enough to serve as a pyre (not that it has to actually be a pyre, mind you, it just needs to be big enough). And ideally, the words “Hold my beer and watch this” should be involved at some point in the evening.
The other night I was Uber-driving and the young women (I’d guess mid- to late-twenties) in the back seat had a conversation in which they used “bonfire” in the way my wife does, talking about buying a house so they can have them. It’s theoretically possible that a house out in the country could host what I consider a “real” bonfire, but I think it’s pretty clear they meant a little fire in a fire pit. Looks like the usage is likely different for those under 40, and therefore my preferred usage will before long be archaic.
If you can comfortably stand within 15 feet of it, it’s not a bonfire.
I’m an old fart. A bonfire is what you burn leaves and old bits of wood on.
It’s not a bonfire if it’s in a stove, or in a fire pit, or in an incinerator or 44-gallon drum. It’s not a bonfire if it’s used for cooking or warmth. It’s not a bonfire if you are hiding it from your parents or neighbours by burning it in a hubcap.
For me, a bonfire is a well-controlled outdoor fire. As opposed to a wildfire.