This is the concluding third of a three-part essay (one of my all-time favorites) I wrote for my “Pathless Travels” column, which was published in Northern Weekly Dispatch, 3 Oct 2004, Vol. 16 No. 39. Part 1 and Part 2 were posted here earlier. The essay is already dated in some spots, but mostly it speaks equally well of how I feel now about fireplaces, as how I felt about this inspiring topic in 2004. I hope you enjoy reading it!
Starting and sustaining a fire looks easy enough. If you observe peasants, rural housewives, or forest dwellers go about their daily tasks around the hearth, you will discern a quiet grace in the way they tend to the fire and cooking pot with the least fuss and effort.
“No sweat. I could do that too,” you might say to yourself. Continue reading “Romancing the fireplace (3)”