It was below freezing on the last morning of our trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park, so I immediately started building a fire after emerging from the tent. The embers from the previous night were still hot underneath the ash, so I was able to get things going with only a few balls of newspaper and some fresh logs. The dry logs, donated to us by our next-door neighbors, immediately began snapping and popping. In the background you can hear the woodland birds and the nearby campers getting up.

This post originally appeared on White Noise Lounge.