I'm feeling the cold tonight and remembering being curled up in an old chair in front of the fireplace. I grew up in an old farmhouse where cold air whistled through cracks and windows rattled in their frames. There was a wood burning pot-bellied stove in the "middle room" and a fireplace in the "front room." A person ventured away from those at the risk of seeing her breath frost in the air and no one stayed away any longer than necessary. But I also remember being wrapped in a blanket in the chair by the fire reading and reading and eating apples. The fire would blaze and rise and dim and lower, while my face would go from hot to warm to cold to hot again. Stirring the embers... banking the fire... putting off going to bed in a freezing room where the sheets were like ice...I absolutely love central heat, but I do miss having a "hot spot"to go to or gather around when the world keeps getting colder and the wind is rushing past.
I'd better go to bed...I'm sensing phrases like "in the good old days" and "back when I was young" are coming next...and I'm trying to save them for use when I'm older than I am now.
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