My friend Nikolai Fox is a great old-time fiddler and photographer. Back in May 2008, in Durham, NH, he snapped this picture of me serenading a flaming chair. It reminds me of being a young boy, lighting things on fire in the kitchen. One time when I was eleven I poured an incendiary mix of dried basil, black pepper, and scotch whiskey into a burning candle. The flames leapt dangerously close to the teak-wood light fixtures overhead, and I thought it might be best to douse them with a glass of water. The whole thing turned into a science-lesson-learned-the-hard-way, as a spreading grease fire nearly incinerated the kitchen counter. I think we put it out with some towels. Considering the potental hazard to life and property, I’d say Mom let me off easy with a sharp verbal rebuke and a trip to my room.
Check out Nikolai’s photography site at: http://www.nikolaifox.net/index.html
Setting things aflame in my hometown, no less! somehow this makes me feel so good inside. : )