There is a bit of a tradition in New Mexico of sitting out on a winter’s eve around a fire. It is not that different from other parts of the world where people gather to look into a fire, feel the warmth, commune together, and get lost in thoughts in the dancing flames. Except here in NM the fire is built in a Chiminea, a clay fireplace that is open on one side with a short chimney raising the smoke toward the stars. We had such a gathering in my neighborhood the other day – an impromptu coming together of several families from the block. Parents, kids, neighbors. Food, drink, good conversation. There was laughter, giggles, bantering, warmth, community. Eventually the food was shared and finished, the children were ushered to bed, the sun completed its daily recession, and the glow of the fire drew us toward its respite from the evening chill. Here my neighbor, Herbey, ponders.