@hedgerow_healing: Story time! So I have spoken a bit about this before, but for those who don't know, I was raised growing up on the New Age Traveller scene (Google it) in the UK. My parents were part of the free festivals, the roads protests, and the traveller movement. They had me in their mid 20's, so fairly young, and were still heavily a part of this scene for most of my early life. For years they travelled around living in either a bender structure (a half-circular nomadic tent) or occasionally an old van or wagon. When I was born, we were stationed at a permanent dwelling in North Wales, yet this small cottage had no roof, no windows, no heat, no electricity, no running water, and an earthen floor. So, while the cottage was made to be liveable, we lived in a bender in the garden, cooked on the fire, gathered water from a nearby well & had candles and oil lamps for light. Fire formed an essential part of this life, as it gave us light, warmth, and food. Without it, we wouldn't have survived the cold winter days. Because of this reliance on a fire, I grew up sitting next to a fire almost every day of my life, and it quickly became a great source of comfort to me. I not only learnt how to build a fire, what wood to burn, and how to cook on a fire, but I also quickly realised that the dancing flames provided a sense of tranquility and joy. Even now, although we live in a house, whenever I can I will get the outside fire going and even sleep next to it in the summer. When I walk down the lane and smell the woodsmoke rising from the chimneys, I always smile to myself, as it transports me back to my childhood and awakens an ancient memory. . . . . . #bushcraft #outsidefire #storyteller #storytime #traveller #newagetraveller #nomadic #nomads #travel #freefestivals #90suk #90s #roadsprotests #outsidecooking #fire #ancestralmemory #ancienttale #woodsmoke #woods #woodland #uktraveller #meditation #MentalHealth #hedgerowhealing #hedgewitch