The McVie Show Season 4

Maybe I was a pyromaniac (as well as a truck driver ‘cuz I love long drives, but that’s another story) in my previous life, because I really enjoy building a fire. In past Baguio trips with the family I always end up building a fire by the fireplace. I find it the whole building-a-fire process fascinating—the way wood catches fire, how fire needs air space to create a bigger blaze, how to position the wood efficiently, etc. I never read up on it; I just applied what little I know about starting a fire for barbequing then winged it from there.

Today I learned how to best position the wood at the start and how to prevent smoke from spilling out of the fireplace. The wood should be placed leaning against the back of the fireplace. It seems the more vertical the wood is placed, the more surface area of the wood catches fire, the bigger the blaze. Placing the wood to the back of the fireplace also ensures that all of the smoke is immediately sucked out into the chimney by the draft.

Burn, baby, burn.

* * * * *


While everyone else is freezing and wearing two layers of clothing, I still manage to go around Baguio in t-shirt, shorts and sandals—in other words, summer wear. No wonder even Baguio folks stare at me when I walk by on the street.

I seem to have no problem adjusting to the cold weather. I remember reading an article in Reader’s Digest back when I was very young; it was some Drama In Real Life bit about a man who had a car accident and had to trudge back through several miles of snow in the dead of winter. He survived the cold because he remembered what an American Indian told him: Don’t fight the cold, be one with it. So whenever I’m in Baguio, I embrace the cold climate and become one with it.

Funny thing is that in the office I get cold easily and need to wear a jacket. I think it has something to do with the artificial cold of the air condition. I think my mind refuses to be one with artificial cold because one can easily “escape” it by either stepping out of the room or switching the air con off; but with cold weather, my mind is resigned to the fact that there is no escaping the cold, so it embraces it instead. Weird, huh?

Personally I’d like to think it’s simply because I’m actually a cold-blooded, cold-hearted creature.

Insert evil laughter here.