Bonfire of the Insanities

It all started innocently enough. We were young and stupid. Well, more stupid than we currently are anyway and attending Allan Hancock College in an attempt to become less stupid. Brett, who welcomes everyone he meets into his fold like a blind retarded sheep invited me to join he and his friends at Oceano Beach for a little bonfire. He said it starts at 5p.m. so I arrive a little early just to be safe. Around six someone else showed up and things got going. Next thing I knew I was one of the gang and we were having bonfires as often as we could.

Then, one by one, we all (well almost all) moved away for school, work, or school and we ended up in Southern California. Since the great migration we hadn't had a true beach bonfire experience but we always talked about getting around to doing it again as soon as possible. Five years later we did.

Over the Winter break we would all be close enough to the legendary Oceano Beach. So we began to plot the flaming end of any number of wood and wood-like substances along with the consumption of carbonated yellow snow, more commonly known as Mountain Dew. We set a date for Dec. 26, the day after Christmas and a start time of 12 noon. One by one we all began to show up, maybe just a little bit late.

And so it begins. Burn baby burn!

A little 007 homage.

A little chicken dancing.

The Mike.

The Mike went for a little swim. Apparently, the ocean is a powerful force.

From light to dark.

As things cooled down we all began to curl up around the fire.