Warming the Hearth

We had our very first fire in our fireplace a few weeks ago.  I have always loved fireplaces, and dreamed of a house where I could build cozy fires, and curl up and gaze at the flames.  My husband, though, grew up in a home with two fireplaces, which were never used, a single time.  He deeply mistrusted the concept of building a fire in the living room, and really didn’t want to use ours.  

When I was little, though, some of the best, most exciting, loving and joyful of family times revolved around Dad building a roaring fire in the huge brick fireplace in our living room.  At least, it seemed huge to me then.  I would sit on the bricks, chin in hand, and ponder why the fire was blue as it emerged from the log, turning to the classic yellow orange fire color.  And of course, the desire to poke. prod and put things in the fire was just about irresistable to the four of us.  One of my brothers even grabbed my Donald Duck bath bubbles bottle, the empty one my Mom had saved to let me play with, and threw it in the fire to see what would happen.  I screamed, as Donald melted, bowed forward in one last, deep, gracious departure, my brother making agonized Donald Duck melting sounds to add to the drama of Donald bowing, then melting, then bursting into vile smelling flame.  This story did not reassure my husband that having fires would actually be good for the family.

But I promised to carefully supervise all fires, and finally called a chimney sweep, who turned out to be someone I knew a long time ago, who won over my husband’s trust.    He swept the chimney, certified it was safe to use, and I bought firewood and laid the fire.  Our children knew exactly what to do–they pulled pillows and blankets up to the hearth, and spent the evening gazing dreamily into the flames, their little cheeks rosy, until they fell asleep.  I know the smoke from a fire is pollution, I know it’s an inefficient way to heat the house, but the pure, primal pleasure of warming your face at the hearth of your home is beyond compare. 

We have made three fires, now– each time, we have repeated the ritual of cuddling in front of the fire, talking softly, falling into deep sleep. As people have done, through the ages.