I used to savor sitting next to the fireplace & reading when I was a kid.
The light from the flames gave enough light to learn by too so I could sneak out & learn & in the kitchen even after my mom called lights out, and of course, mom caught me reading from time to time. She would just remind me not to stay up too late & then he would leave me to my books. I ended up sleeping in that old couch by the fireplace more times that I slept in my own bed I think. My whole life, I just knew that when I grew up I will get a condo with a fireplace, just like the one I had grown up in. Unluckyly, I ended up going to college in the south. This meant renting an condo and, of course, no fireplace. With the heat of the south, there are not a lot of locales with fireplaces let alone apartments with fireplaces. My first Fall I started feeling entirely homesick & I found that reading just wasn’t the same without the glow or the smell of a fireplace. When my birthday came around, I wasn’t feeling really cheerful however when I opened up the boxes that my mom sent & I was surprised to see that he had sent a little electric fireplace. She also sent some fireplace scented candles. The electric fireplace works as a space boiler too however it could also be used without any heat at all with just the flicker of the flames. It’s not super realistic, & not the real thing, however it’s about as close as I’m going to get in the south. Thank you Mom.