|
 It’s natural to mumble nasty things about the cold
weather. We all do it from time to time. But even the cold has its
merits.
One big plus is that it makes fireplaces a reasonable addition to
our lives. In cold weather, we can build a fire in our home with a
clear conscience. This is something that doesn’t translate well to
summer heat, but when it’s cold, here comes the fire.
Strange, isn’t it, our love affair with a fireplace? Makes
absolutely no sense.
Today, we can make houses so impervious to cold that every time we
light a candle, the temperature goes up ten degrees. So what do we
do? We cut a hole in this sealed anti-cold unit so we can sit and
look at the flames, the way our ancestors have done since they
learned to walk upright and invented kindling.
But we don’t care. We’ll spend a lot of extra money to buy a house
with a fireplace, and not think a thing about it. Because this
fireplace is the spiritual center of a home, as it’s always been.
It’s the gathering place. It’s the place to read, to learn, to meet
and tell stories. It’s the core of our universe. The fireplace – and
those waiting for us there – is what we dream about when we’re miles
from home in the woods or desert. It warms us, inside and out, cooks
our food, and answers our questions. [to top of second
column] |
Questions? Sure.
When the fire’s burning low, and you can just see the little blue
lickem flames curling around the glowing embers late at night, and
when we’ve about talked out the day’s adventures, we can look at
those embers and find answers to questions we didn’t even know we
had. And we feel sorry for people who don’t have these advantages.
[Text from file received from
Slim Randles]
Brought to
you by the genuine cowboy music and musings of Steve Cormier up in
New Mexico’s Sandia Mountains. Check him out at stevecormier.net.
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