It has snowed here the past three days, and our 8 year old grandson has been staying with us. He told me this morning that he was bored sitting around the house, so we got dressed and went outside.
After a few snowballs, he asked if we could make a fire and I told him yes. So we gathered some kindling and firewood and after I got some dryer lint we put it all together. When we finished he told me that he wanted to use my firesteel to start a fire with so I handed it to him. Needless to say, he couldnt get it started so I took over. Two scrapes with a scraper and we had a fire going. I told him not to get discouraged, and I told him that he would learn it soon enough.
After we had a fire going for a little bit, he asked me if it was O.K. to eat snow. After I explained it to him that he really shouldn't, he decided that he wanted to melt some snow and then boil it.
After a lot of snow and a cup of water we boiled it over our fire that we had made and then drank the water.
I figure that he learned 2 or 3 lessons today and I am glad that I was the one who showed him how to do it.
