Mementos, Notes, and Fragments

Nothing spoils a relaxing campfire like the hot, choking tentacles of the smoke beast drifting into your face. You get up, arrange your chair upwind on the opposite side of the fire, sit back down, and the wind shifts, blowing the smoke into your face again. Repeat until it’s time to crawl into the tent, eyes watering.

It seems purposeful, doesn’t it, like the smoke is following you around the fire? But that can’t be, right?

Actually, yes. Smoke does follow you and here’s why. A campfire functions like a tiny weather system. As hot air from the fire rises, cool air moves in to take its place. But when you’re sitting next to a fire, your body acts as an air dam, blocking the cooler air behind you from reaching the fire. A dead zone forms between you and the blaze. Meanwhile, cooler air