With the past weekend being Halloween, the team took an early evening trip to the countryside where we cooked hot dogs and roasted marshmallows around a warm fire. We actually woke up that morning to snow – on October 31st for crying out loud! It was truly cold, really fast; it was around 20 degrees Fahrenheit. But we decided to brave the elements anyway with hot dogs and smores.

One of our Senior English majors, Alan, was nice enough to arrange the place and firewood for the event. We went to his uncle’s farm. We had a simple time, enjoying around 3 hours of eating and fun. By far, the most exciting event was the bonfire’s – how shall I say it? – explosion. First of all, the wood that was brought out had nails in it. I know that’s not good as those can somewhat explode as they’re metal. For the entire time, the fire made abnormally large “mini-booms” as I think nails were melting or slightly exploding. No one was hurt of course – thankfully.

Anywho, we had secured a nicely-paved area for the bonfire. About 3 hours in, there was a massive “boom”, – I didn’t see the fire as I had turned my head – but the sound caused me to jump up and run. In unison (minus the children), the team ran away from the fire. In sheer parental speed, Daren had picked up both Jude & Will in a dash; Samantha was actually away from the fire trying to play with the dogs that her parents kept saying to her, “Sam, NO!” Come to find out, the cement under the bonfire had cracked. I guess with it being so cold, then being heated up by a bonfire, this caused a massive, localized cracking of the cement. At the boom, pieces of cement broke away from the ground, throwing wood, ash, and coals in a massive spray. Mark actually got hit in the head with a piece of wood. Charcoal chunks flew over Nancy’s head, one of Alan’s younger cousins who came with us. It was hilariously dangerous, but everyone was okay. :-) You can see pics of this event from our “team photographer” Kat on flickr.com.