We broke our bedroom fireplace the other day. A happy log decided to dislodge itself from the standard confines of the chamber and throw itself directly upon the glass (which is there to protect us from getting burned). Ponzi and I stared at this situation with an eerie calm. “Hullo. I wonder if that’s okay?” said Chris. “Surely, this is tempered glass. But we should move the other logs - just in case.” Ponzi bent over and started to move one set of logs when the bottom pane shattered into a thousand pieces - narrowly missing her head. T’was more of an implosion upon closer inspection, but still a frightening situation to say the least. I think I was more in shock, as I was getting ready to take a much closer look only seconds before it cracked. Fire is not a toy, nor should any toys be thrown into the fire (as evidenced by earlier experiments with a Hasbro Darth Vader action figure that Ponzi no longer wanted to see sitting on my shelf). In the ever-burning words of Frankenstein: Fire Bad!

This yet-to-be-cleaned-and-fixed setback did not stop us from utilizing our living room fireplace last night, however. We threw a few pieces of firewood onto the iron cradle, carefully arranging them in strategic positions - so as not to upset another pane of glass. Since there were no chestnuts to roast on an open fire, I wondered if we had any large marshmallows instead. As luck would have it, we did not - only mini-mallows and metal skewers. No graham crackers were to be found in our cupboards either, so I grabbed a Kit Kat and set out for a slightly-offroad s’more adventure. The miniature marshmallows were almost instantly burnt to a crisp, given that there was nothing much to their individual form. It’s been a while since I’ve made s’mores by the fire, but if I do it again, I’ll definitely use the Kit Kat combination. Not long after that mid-evening snack, the fire devolved into dancing cinders and glowing embers. Tonight, it will be the fire’s mission to keep us warm (not fed, as Ponzi’s vanilla pudding should fulfill that need).

[tags]fire,firewood,wood,fireplace,glass,smoke,chimney,smores,ash,soot[/tags]