Comfy, Cozy
In the ongoing saga of the broken HVAC system in my new home, I decided to take matters into my own hands, and while I’m waiting for the 8-11 weeks for my new heater/AC system to be built, I bought a beautiful electric fireplace/heater.
It’s even more amazing than a real fireplace, because I can change the colors of the lights, of the coals, even of the flames. And though it was 80 degrees here today (yes, it is November 7 in New Jersey), I have the flames on and dancing right now - this is the purplish pink version.
What is it about a fire in the fireplace that is so comforting and relaxing? I remember when I was little, we had a real wood fireplace. Dad would stomp out in the snow to the side of the house to get wood for the fire, pile it up on the hearth, and we kids would crumple the newspaper to start it. Then he’d get a loooooong match from the holder by the fireplace and we would all watch, enraptured, and he lit the paper and the fire began to burn.
As we got older, wood burning fires were banned in Salt Lake (SLC has a terrible pollution problem in the winter), and so all the fireplaces were switched to gas. The thing about gas is I’m always just a little afraid of it – gas grills, gas stoves, gas tanks…I guess I took the warnings too much to heart. The gas fires also lacked the requisite smells and pops and crackles that come with real wood.
But here in my lovely condo, we are not equipped for either a gas or wood fireplace, so my lovely electric one will do the trick!
It has been a doozy of a challenging and stressful week, but I’m excited to tuck in, have a cup of hot licorice tea, and relax.
Speaking of relaxing – Arthur isn’t all that into it. We played hard last weekend, and I knew he was truly a soul-mate when we were at the park, and he ignored the little dogs, the old ladies doing yoga, and the juggler, and went straight to the leaf piles. He loves shuffling through the fallen leaves (just like I do), and we couldn’t get enough of finding/making piles of leaves to play in. Such a yummy fall. Yesterday, we played all day long. He ate more yesterday than I’ve ever seen; tomatoes and feta, cucumbers and apples, blueberries and oatmeal, and a plain yogurt drink with dill. I love his Mediterranean diet – and how strong and healthy he is.
The smiles of that sweet boy can sustain me during anything – just keep them coming, dearest Arthur! I’ll get back to painting and drawing very soon, but want to keep sending these missives to the cloud before I forget the details.
