A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.” Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
A pleasure of the lockdown in Vancouver this winter is turning on our gas fireplace. Although we didn’t list a fireplace as an essential when buying our homes here or in Scottsdale, we should have. It’s a prized inclusion. There’s something entirely ‘warm’ about heating a place in a kinda old fashioned way. As good luck has it, both our homes feature one.
In addition to heat, a fireplace turns an ordinary room or space into an inviting oasis. As we gaze at the flames of a fire, their hypnotic effect empties our minds a little. Stresses or upsets of the day lighten, and a sense of repose settles upon us. Some studies show fires even help lower our blood pressure.
While wood-burning and gas hearths are popular, an electric fireplace, which doesn’t require a chimney, can also be installed. The electric fire was invented in 1912 as a set prop in theatres (a good question for Trivial Pursuit perhaps?). However, it was expensive and didn’t look realistic. Architects began experimenting with the concept in the 1950s as “part of an active endeavour to show the brilliance and individuality of America and the ‘Free World’ in the Cold War.” In 1981 electrical ‘flame effects’ came to be, and in 1995 Dimplex patented an electric fireplace that closely resembles a wood-burning one. These units now appear in homes to reproduce the benefits of fires.
Outdoor fires (though not raging wild ones) also evoke favourable feelings. Since giving up camping, I miss most of all the wood fires: the flames, the crackle, the roasted marshmallows (guilty), and the camaraderie of family and friends by the blaze. To replicate this ritual, some people add outdoor hearths or fire pits to their yards — to host parties even with snow on the ground. Such additions are proving useful during the pandemic where/when restrictions allow for small, physically distanced gatherings.
For example, Calgary’s 33 fire pits in public parks attracted such high demand the city is adding another 70 for individuals to reserve. “Getting people outside is the best medicine right now, from a mental health perspective,” says the city’s acting manager of arts and culture.
Inside the flames and warmth of our fireplace subdue my gloomy thoughts of COVID and put frisky Flair to sleep. That calms my mind and body too. •
P.S. Most conversations about fires (even raging wild ones) mention the environment. I won’t address this burning issue. But suffice to say we can enjoy hearths and pits in reasonably friendly, efficient ways.
P.P.S. Benjamin Franklin invented a safe, albeit somewhat flawed, indoor wood stove in 1742. He did not patent the Franklin Stove as he wanted other inventors to improve on his work. Which they’ve done.
Linda says
Ah Flair! I miss her and you guys so much. I wish I had a fireplace as well but there is a fake one on tv that I watch occasionally for the same comfort you speak of.
Pam McPhail says
Ah yes. The fireplace channel. Glen sometimes puts this view on in Arizona where we do not often light the real thing. Miss you too, Linda.
Ron Charuk says
A great outdoor fire is one of my favorite activities. Nothing like smelling like smoke at the end of an evening!
Pam McPhail says
Ron, Thanks for reminding me a fire also engages our sense of smell, even after it’s been extinguished.
Sonya R Bardati says
Yes, Pam, we never used our fireplaces much in the past, because we were in Arizona for the winter, but this year, we found that we really enjoy our 3 fireplaces in our house in Parksville, never used the 2 electric ones, but do use the gas fireplace, a feeling of warm homey place. This year we are enjoying all 3 of them, the electric ones have a blower that certainly heats up really fast, amazing what invention can do.
Pam McPhail says
We only occasionally light our wood-burning fireplace in Arizona, and then it’s for ambience more so than heat. Glad you’re enjoying your fireplaces this season, Sonya, as compensation for staying home.
Tim McPhail says
I remember sharing campsites with you and Glen, Pam. Best was when the fire was beside a lake that provided water music as a background for the calls of birds and other nocturnal creatures. Very elemental.
Pam McPhail says
Very poetically put, Tim. I too recall fondly the camp fires on the shores of Fish Creek Pond in the Adirondacks.
J Grant McPhail says
We are lucky enough to have a gas fireplace in the livingroom, a woodstove in the familyroom, and a firepit outside. All three have been well used so far this winter. The outdoor firepit has ended up as the centre of our social life.
Pam McPhail says
You are lucky, Grant. Well, let’s say you showed foresight years ago in setting up a fire pit that now gives you a permissible social life.
Christine Krueger says
Fireplaces and fire pits are something that comforts inside and outside ourselves. All as you said. I wish I had one here as it gets really cold when the temperature drops and you have no heat!
Pam McPhail says
It’s no fun being cold! Guess you wrap yourself in serape blankets and await the daytime sun — which is fun.
MarilynRivers-Bowerman says
Well said! There’s nothing like the flickering light and warmth of a fire (gas fireplace) to keep us cozy during the shortest, darkest, and coldest days of the year. I have been finding comfort curling up by the fire during the early morning hours while I read. I am especially grateful for our fireplace this winter.
Pam McPhail says
That’s a pleasing image you describe, Marilyn, of your early morning ritual. Seems a good way to prevent COVID fatigue.
Ken McLean says
I too fondly recall the camp fires our family shared with yours at Fish Creek Pam.We don’t have a fire here, but I do find the smell of wood fires very pleasant when we are outside ( though not so much when the smoke from one of our neighbour’s chimneys makes its way into our house!)
Pam McPhail says
“Those were the days my friend. We thought they’d never end. We’d sing and dance…” Ken, Do you remember when Glen and Patrick returned from fishing one night to see mock revivalist Brian leading us in energetic song and dance around the camp fire? Name the CD and tune? It’ll come to me…
Pam McPhail says
It came to me, Ken. The Commitments sing “Saved.” We did too!
Glen Wickens says
When I think of literary fires, I always think of the bonfire on Egdon Heath at the start of The Return of the Native. Hardy is right: as daylight diminishes in the Fall there is an instinctive protest in the lighting of a fire at night. Here in the West End of Vancouver, the mantra becomes, let there be light instead of let there be fire. Trees get wrapped with Xmas lights and huge illuminated animal shapes appear in English Bay.
Ken McLean says
There is also “Bonfire of the Vanities”.
Pam McPhail says
Fires bring out our primeval selves, protesting against foreshortened days as Hardy writes and also providing warmth in the night.
Marie McLean says
Having no fireplace here, I’ll rely on past shared experiences around fires. I remember sharing wine gums around the campfire. Lynne Johnson claimed the green ones tasted like Dettol. The kids were always saying “I hate white rabbits” when smoke got in their eyes. Patrick’s good lung capacity made him a human bellows.
Pam McPhail says
We probably weren’t doing our teeth any favours with the wine gums, but they tasted good around the blaze. Even the green ones. Yes, Patrick fed the fire oxygen from his lungs to get it to roar.
Dale Severyn says
At a low time in my life I was doing some work with the Dene in the NWT. A woman elder said that she didn’t pray but that she would feed the fire for me. When I asked her what that was, she described a hot bonfire where she would feed the fire with thoughts , wishes and sometimes even physical tokens. I get that!
Pam McPhail says
I get that too, Dale! Thanks for sharing a story about the spiritual side of fires.