Fire-Fanning Gadgetry Misapplied

A couple of years ago, I tracked down a hand-cranked bellows sold by Campmor. This was shortly after Benton had gotten going with coaxing campfires back from glowing embers when he woke up in the morning. Frankly, I was a little concerned that he would hyperventilate some day, as using his lungs to fan the flames always held more appeal than wandering around and collecting an adequate supply of tinder.

This is a nifty little device -- it looks like a fishing reel, and when you turn the crank, it blows air. It was so popular that, with the first one, Benton managed to give himself a blister from blowing it on flames long after a fire was going. And...it wore out after a few months. So, we got another one shortly after we moved to Ohio, which we left at Bob's farm in West Virginia.

The question is: does Benton really know how to use it?

Hmmmm. THIS flame is already too big!

And THIS flame...um...flame?

Thanks to the distraction of sleddable snow and a couple of cousins, Benton did not spend the entire weekend: 1) blowing on fires that were long past needing fanning, and 2) experimenting with how much powdery snow he could displace by blowing on it.