Brothers Campfire Asks, Where to start? August 3rd, 2020

Friends,

Hello!

Today was unique. The only order to this is perhaps a historic narrative.

Gather Round. Hear a tale.

Earlier this year, I adopted Lydia Potter as my little sister.

Image By Permission of Lydia Potter.

Due to my relatively new adoption and per her request, I committed to be the best man at her wedding when she has one. I am uncommon proud to be her big brother.

Hopefully, the groom is cool with all that, because I don’t plan on wearing all the frilly stuff on the girl side. I am sure she has a plan. Women folk seem to have a knack for such things.

Lydia, I will say one thing directly; Find your guy here…. After college.

Well, anyway, it was publicly known that I am not against adoption and I was met by Pooja Rani.

Picture By Permission of Pooja Rani.

Pooja was quick and to the point. She adopted me like adopting was at a premium and latched on for dear life.

She informed me that I am not Brother’s Campfire, I am Uncle’s Campfire. She has consistently demonstrated a unique bluntness in her care for my physical health. Initially, I was taken aback by the lack of filter, but I guess that is what nieces do.

Here is the grey, Pooja.
I am losing weight, Pooja. Thank you!👻

There has been no way around it. I am Pooja’s uncle. I garuntee you I would not take all the roasting from a stranger.

I take adoption seriously. My Beloved and I assertain the validity of each one.

My Beloved and I

I have one adoped brother named Tong and four adopted sisters; Lydia, Amber, Ashley T. , and Marissa.

My niece Pooja now, she threw me for a loop recently.

Several days ago, I received a request for photos of the male members of our family. I declined and upset Pooja. It was not my intention. When I did not give the answer she wanted, she asked my Beloved for the pictures.

Apparently, there is a holiday in India for brothers and sisters on August third called Raksha Bandhan. In this ceremony, minor gifts are exchanged to show continued protection of one another.

Pooja and a male relative.

According to what I understand, the brother is expected to protect his sibling through adulthood, even so far as to tell her husband she is to visit her family for a season.

I do not know the ins and outs of Indian culture, but I do know that I fiercely protect those that I love and I am honored that Pooja takes adoption seriously.

You are an amazing niece, Pooja! it is a little late, but here is a photo of a little guy in our family.

Me at around 4 years I guess.

So, back to my day. When it is night here, it is day in India. Before the sun rose, Pooja sent photos of the ceremony and my day began. (I forgot to put the phone on vibrate and my notification is a trumpet. Several of us thought God was calling us home and were awake straightaway.)

My Day

After reading the Bible and making a pot of coffee, I set out to feed and water the birds.

A video of my birds

Shortly after the sun rose, I was met by a she vixen. Typically, she vixens can be scary. This one took a cup of coffee and just poked around the yard a bit.

Everyone at Willow Manor does thier share of work to keep things going. I was busy busy pulling weeds and stacking firewood.

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There is work for the little hands as well. It was really neat to be able to capture this moment and post it on the web.

We enjoyed ourselves in our little park. This morning was beautiful.

Our painted bricks tell the story of what we think about our little hiding place.

Painted Brick

Breakfast was epic. Eggs, seasoned by the herbs from our garden was complimented by toast with chokecherry jam gifted to us by a friend.

Spiders are a gardeners friend, as evidenced by my appreciation of their appetite for insects. This young lady continued the feast from earlier while I ate my breakfast. It seems she is gaurding her eggs.

Others of the same order are not my friends. I dispatched this one as I did my chores after breakfast. It is known as a black widow and is quite poisonous.

While black widows do their share of work,they tend to live in dark places where your hand may go, such as your shed or a woodpile. Provocation could result in a hospital stay or worse.

I have been known to manipulate the deadly and antisocial to do what needs to be done. In this instance, I was able to keep the spider calm and place it on it’s side with a long small stick. The tell tale red x or hourglass is a sign that this specimen is not to be taken lightly.

Like I said at the beginning, today was unique.

No day is really complete without a Campfire. It was almost time for lunch. I got a decent size blaze going and let it die down for cooking.

Like many of us that blog, I live frugally, looking for sales, free wood for my campfire, and finding workarounds to have cool adventures when I am not working. I was able to finagle a few hot dogs and chicken thighs for a very good deal. Life is what you make it, and life was good today.

Well friends, that is all I have. Thanks for stopping by!

Author: Benjamin

Benjamin Thiel is a husband, father, correctional professional and author of The Ongoing Tale at Brothers Campfire.

76 thoughts on “Brothers Campfire Asks, Where to start? August 3rd, 2020

  1. Kay. says:

    🌻🌻🌼🏕🌏☀️ everything looks like a good time🌙🌙🌙

    Reply
          1. Kay. says:

            oh I don’t know…its to be expected💫🌼🧡

  2. Lydia says:

    LOVED this so much!
    You are the best brother any little sister could hope for!
    Is your other sister, Marissa, my real sister or another one?

    Reply
  3. Herb says:

    Very good. You have a couple of family members I don’t. You know that Petra is my red-headed stepchild?

    Reply
        1. Lydia says:

          Yeah. And you’re my dad. Just making sure you didn’t forget.

          I think it’s funny y’all have family members that each other don’t know about.

          Reply
          1. Herb says:

            I know most of his. I don’t think I knew Pooja had adopted him, though and I wasn’t sure he knew about Petra. They are all know to me, otherwise.

          2. Lydia says:

            Cool. I really like being part of this special family.

        1. Benjamin says:

          Absolutely! 🤠🔥 I see you have been really taking off on your blog, friend!

          Reply
          1. Benjamin says:

            🤠🔥🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆

      1. theatrealtair says:

        My wonderful new twin sister is Saba Niaz Siddique- she’s much younger, sweeter, more caring AND prettier than me – so when she offered to be my twin sister, you’d think I would have jumped at the chance!

        Reply
          1. cookingflip says:

            I’ll let you know if there are entomological societies or conservation groups in your area who’d be happy to collect your spiders!!!! 🕷️🕷️🕷️

  4. visionarytrailblazers says:

    Things are totally awesome and I think this story maybe one of my fav Adventures. So what is your next adventure and where will it be taking you?

    Reply
    1. Benjamin says:

      You know, while I blaze trails, I am not as far sighted in my vision as you! Perhaps I will tackle the desert for another shot at 35 miles in a day. 22 or so last go. Thanls for asking! What are your plans?

      Reply
      1. visionarytrailblazers says:

        Hello my friend I’m loving it go ahead and rock it. As for me and my organization I am in the process of trying to come up with creative virtual conference call things we can do. It can be a challenge but I love a good challenge, having said that continue to be adventurous and no limits Roc whatever you’re going to do
        till next time

        Reply
    1. Benjamin says:

      I am glad you enjoy those two topics! It was what I am engaged in when not at work.

      Reply
  5. Beverly says:

    Wow, thanks for sharing this, nephew. For a moment I thought that was Trent. He looks so much like you. A wonderful day off with family…

    Reply
  6. gifted50 says:

    Love your tail (tale). I believe Lydia is a favorite of many of us ( I am her WP mother). So poor Lydia will have to invite me to the wedding as well.
    Your meals look delicious … continue having fun and spinning those tails (I mean tales).

    Reply
    1. Lydia says:

      Awwww and I’m just now seeing this!
      Yes! My WP mother! <3 🙂
      And of course you'll be invited to my wedding!

      Reply
  7. Tanya says:

    That breakfast looks divine! Fresh seasoning from the garden is everything! Will stay tuned for more stories and adventures. 😊👍

    Reply
  8. sunisanthosh says:

    Love the gardening, nature, breakfast and you got the another family member too !! 🧍‍♀️

    Reply

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