Fire and Water

  What is it about waves and fires that enrapture us? 

Is it the movement? 

The churn of the water? 

The crackle of the logs? 

The sound of the waves pounding the sand like a metronome? 

Or is the mere act of witnessing an elemental power in a somewhat controlled environment? 

  If it were to get out of control, it would overpower us with such ease. Make us feel insignificant. The power of the undertow, the riptide, the wave out of nowhere that clips us from behind, bringing us down to our knees. The heat of the fire, the roar of the inferno, the way it can envelop a forest in the blink of an eye, galloping from tree top to tree top.

  While I try to figure it out, I'll just toss another log in the fireplace and watch the waves outside my window.