A shared evening fire turns privation into intimate social ritual

Evidence

We finish supper about eight, and make up a huge fire. The men smoke while I write to you. Then we draw near the fire and I take my endless mending, and we talk or read aloud. Both are very intelligent, and Mr. Buchan has very extended information and a good deal of insight into character. — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 233

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Directly parallels the domestic-textile detail (constant mending by firelight) in the already-published traveling-women material; usable as scene support.