I have always loved camping.  There’s nothing like waking up in your tent to the fresh air, the sound of the waves and best of all, the aroma of coffee brewed over a camp fire. Or making s’mores over the fire while someone strums on their guitar after dark.  Life just doesn’t get much better.  Naturally being a girl from the Soo, I have always been able to get a camp fire lit. It’s a talent most northerners share but if you need a little refresher, here is some advice from Duke University’s professor of engineering, Adrian Bejan:

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The pyramid structure of a fire is actually the most effective way to build one. He writes, “Humans from all eras have been relying on this design. Out bonfires are shaped as cones and pyramids, as tall as they are wide at the base. The reason is that this shape is the most efficient for air and heat flow. Our success in building fires in turn made it possible for humans to migrate and spread across the globe.” Still, he says the findings are the “simplest imaginable,” and that more research would be needed to determine how additional factors (such as the fuel being burned, wind speed and direction, and the packing of the fuel) would change the effectiveness of the fire’s shape. (Daily Mail) (Image: commons.wikimedia.org) P.S. Always practise fire safety!