Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 25, 2001
Something about a fireplace makes a house a home. The same can be said about other accoutrements, but to me, fireplaces always have been special.
It was a long time before I had an opportunity to live in a house with one. Finally, when we purchased the third house in our marriage, we acquired one. We made good use of it. There were fires simply to enhance the homey look, there were fires to take the chill off, there were fires on which we could -- and did -- roast marshmallows and cook hot dogs, and there were fires just for the heck of it. After all, who could resist a child's plea: "Daddy, build a fire!" Not I.
If we wanted to make the fire more colorful, we had some magic chips we could toss on it to turn the flames a variety of colors. We even got a mantel clock. We hung Christmas stockings from the mantel. We sat up late, gazing at the embers as we listened to music. Is it any wonder that I see a fireplace as making a house a home?
Fireplaces have some other uses. Some people use them exclusively for heat. Others use them to do cooking that is far more complicated than marshmallows or hot dogs. Then there are the romantics. I remember a young reporter in Des Moines who, even in mid-summer, liked to turn on the air conditioner and build a fire when he planned to entertain a date.
Along with their many uses, fireplaces come in different varieties. My wife's brother in California had a fireplace with hearths in both the living room and the family room. I think the danger in this style that might be that, kids being kids, they might try to crawl through the fireplace from one room to the other and look like miniature chimney sweeps as they emerged on the other side.
Some fireplaces have been "converted," so to speak, so that the only flames come from gas jets. Granted, they are cleaner than those that burn wood. But what is a fireplace with sterile andirons and without the delightful scent of burning logs?
Some fireplaces aren't fireplaces at all, just decorative mantels on some sort of boxed frame that includes a gas jet but no fire box and no real chimney, just a vent.
When we moved to Florida, we thought there would be no fireplaces, and there weren't in the homes we looked at. Later, we began to realize that Florida's climate is ideal for them, at least during the winter.
We even found a nearby beach resort with fireplaces where we could, like the young reporter in Des Moines, turn on the air conditioner and have a fire. We could enjoy it and the surf at the same time.
This year, we will be able to enjoy a fireplace at Christmas. Our daughter and son-in-law recently bought what I call a big, old, house in St. Petersburg. It has a working fireplace. They plan to move in early December, and we have been invited there for Christmas dinner.
Rest assured that I will first ask whether a stack of wood came with the house. If not, I will see to it that some has been delivered.
Merry Christmas!
- You can write to Jay Horning c/o Seniority, the Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. Or send e-mail to jayhorning@aol.com.