143: The Fireplace
I do like to be beside the fireside
Why is fire so enticing? Like a moth to a flame, I always draw close to a blazing fire and its crackling sound.
But my focus is on the object of the fireplace. While every fire is different, the fireplace remains the same, a container for this dangerous object. At uni my room may have a fireplace in it, but it is full of books rather than fire because the chimney is blocked. So while I am at home for the holidays, I have been enjoying the luxury of a fireplace with a real fire in it.
Why? It is warm, a welcome comfort after coming in from the wintry weather outside, and we have had fires in our homes for centuries. The Greek Goddess Hestia was the goddess of the hearth, as well as the ‘right ordering’ of the family and the home, which is no surprise when you think of how central the fireplace (or hearth) used to be. It was the primary source of heat for your home, cooking your food, and heating water for washing. Today, the only food we tend to cook on a fire are s’mores or roasted chestnuts.
Many houses don’t have fireplaces like this any more. They may have wood burners, or coal fires, or even electric fires, if they have anything at all. To try and replace the fireplaces we have lost, Netflix has a ‘show’ where you can watch a fireplace for an hour.
Working fireplaces have become a luxury, rather than an essential. They are no longer objects of use, tools for everyday life, but aesthetic objects, adding to the rustic decoration or the cosy atmosphere of a room. To have a real fire going in a fireplace takes work and care and attention, and so electric versions have flourished. Yet as fits my old school character, I will always cherish the presence of a real fire roaring in the fireplace, smelling the earthy smell, listening to the crackle, and watching the flames and sparks of light flickering against the dark.
