Fireplaces and the Cozy Warmth of Home
Joe on December 16th, 2009 | Filed under Home
I had grown up without a fireplace, and going over to my friends house was such a treat as her family always had the fire going through the winter. Not only did their house always feel so warm and cozy, it looked and sounded warm and cozy as well, with the glow of the fire and the sound of the logs popping and crackling. She and I later became roommates in college, and the first house we rented, had a fireplace. She could not live without one, and I did not want to live any longer without one.
It looked as though this one had not been used in years, so we thought it would be best to have the chimney cleaned out. We found a chimney sweep company whose speciality was wood fireplace cleaning and we set an appointment for later on that week. What we did not expect, was for a man to show up in a top hat and tales, like a character right out of an old Broadway play, but there he was all dressed up and climbing his ladder. When he was finished, we thanked him, and set about to light our first fire.
I had never been there when her dad would light the fires so many years ago, and apparently she had not been paying attention, for lighting that fire was much harder than we thought it would be. Our first mistake was in not making certain that the draft of our chimney was indeed going up and out of the house. We did not know to check that by lighting a small piece of newspaper, and holding it under to make sure that the smoke drifted up. As soon as we lit the paper underneath our logs, the house filled up with smoke. We opened the windows and doors, and called her dad. He came over and helped us resolve the problems we were having, and in no time we had the warm cozy house of our youth.
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