– The Campfire

A simple message of life but so strong it is something that I still hold very close to my heart.

I very much understand the significance of the campsite, the campfire and the silence it brings to us.  So many moments have been appreciated only by staring into the fire.  If you ever try, as you get to your stretch run in your life,  ask yourself what is the true meaning of life, this story is the variable of the equation you will need to solve it individually.

Watching the video will bring back that to you.  This short is dedicated to a man I once knew and who took care of us at the campsite.  Mr. Davidson is all I ever called him.

Mr. Davidson was a quiet man, a craftsman in his trade, he served Arizona for years and the military too.  I remember him always bald and roundish.  His demeanor demanded respect without having to ask.  ‘Proud’, a word that puts all of him and his being into definition.

His son, Bob, probably put him through, ‘hell and back’, as his son is who I knew the best.  Those days, Bob and several others like him were exactly that.  The best of friends anyone could ask for.  You have those too.

My life has changed the once cemented bonding we had for each one and all of us have taken other indirect dirt roads through our forest of our lives but all in all, Mr. Davidson is one who I remember just like I remember my own Dad in all the stories I’ve written on The WiseGuy Diaries.

Mr. Davidson was a great Dad, a Father-in-Law, a Husband, a Grandfather, a Great Granpa, a friend and most importantly in my life’s and so many other’s camp, our endless fire tender.

His Antelope Chili was to die for and his patience for all us was a life’s gift I can never forget.

Here’s to you Mr. Davidson.  And here’s a gift for Bob and BJ.

I’m buying an axe from ‘The Best Made Company’ and naming it, ‘Mr. Davidson’.

What the Tree Remembers, the Axe Forgets from Dark Rye on Vimeo.

“The best part of life starts at the head of the stretch.”

The WiseGuy

____________________