Technology Fails Me Home
Rain tap taps. Air is frost-ready. Weeks go by and, still, I have no heat. It is coming at last, later this week, but in the meantime here I am...
Sitting by the fire. Lugging logs from the garage. Tending, turning. Warming hands. Bundling. Noticing.
Like Gerald May in his wilderness, I sit alone and stare at flames dancing. They melt away thoughts, worries, logic and analysis. I find myself, as he did, feeling there is nothing in particular to do. This amber movement mesmerizes, frees. Unlike May, I also sit with others and wonder, is this how hearth came to be associated with home?
When the house is chilled as it is now, we come from our respective corners and meet unplanned before the fire. My big girl draws, paints, writes, leans on my leg as I read, think. I reach out and press her long dark hair between my fingers. I put my hand on her back, and she, unawares, curls her toes against mine. Little One comes too, chatting, smiling, tossing her hair and tangling it. I brush it back in place and smile too.
I love my technologies (yes, Sam, I do). But for these few weeks I marvel that at least one of them has failed me home.
Birch on Fire photo by L.L. Barkat.
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Labels: culture-making, Gerald May, High Calling Blogs Book Club, technology, The Wisdom of Wilderness
posted by L.L. Barkat at 11:03 AM
17 Comments:
So jealous of your family quiet time by the fire. We don't usually have fireplaces down here in Florida. I love your perspective - what could have been a rant or complain turned into gratitude and appreciation for the little things, the important things.
Blessings,
Anna
To meet *anywhere* unplanned...nice.
I can so relate to your thoughts...not because we have a cold spell that requires a fire. Here, in Southern Cali, we don't ever NEED a fire (ha ha), but there have been a few evenings when Fall has made herself known in ways that leave our insides chilled from lack of sunlight. The fire is lit by my amazing man and our five kidlets each wind up drawn to the floor nearby, close together for the first time in a long time, almost touching and it is ok. I love the fire...I love the dance the flames perform across the logs...the snap of the wood as it ignites... Simple. Perfect...and as always, you have inspired my morning.
Many warm hugs being sent your way... Bina
I was thinking like Anna . . . I miss the fireplace, here in sunny CA. I have many special memories of being a Little One by the fire . . .
Ah, I love fire and flame. Sometime, try throwing open pine cones (especially large ones) into the fire to watch them burn. They flare and settle into a glowing texture, reminding me of dragon's scales, before they melt away in perfect crescents of orange-red, until the heat reaches the core fibers, sending the remnants into a delicate dance upon the coals before the whole gradually subsides into ash. I could watch them for hours. In fact, I have...
Oh, how I wish I had a fireplace -- even if it was a gas one, even if I did something as unromantic as flipping a switch to get it going. Blessings to you and your family; may your hearth warms more than your bodies.
How cozy and intimate.
Warmed by it all.
In the spirit of stillness, I actually did a techy thing in a way. I sat with my daughter instead of rushing about, and we went through all the photo albums together. It ended up leading to a gratitude post, and I decided to sit and figure out how to do something on the computer . I am proud of myself, okay, but I am so full of a joy I can't express. I've been blessed all over again by all the children in the pictures by actually taking the time to let them come to me..
Until I went to college, every place I lived in had a working fireplace, and it was something we always could count on. However awful the weather might be, whenever electricity went out, we had a fire's warmth to remind us we needed little else. My father so enjoyed tending the embers, a kind of elemental provision we probably never fully appreciated at the time.
No doubt about it. Just an image of a fireplace brings a virtual flush on my cheek. Like star gazing, peering into a fire is mesmerizing. It casts a welcome warmth, no matter the condition of my feelings.
I can't help, but sense felines were purring at your feet.. those girls of yours.
Are you a cat person.. ? ;)
You do love your technologies, but the balance you manage is a good one, methinks.
Now...where was that virtual book I was reading?
interesting thought about home and hearth. i like how everyone comes together to share in the warmth.
Oh - you make me long for my fireplace. When we lived up north we had one, and it had pride of place in the living room.
I found, just as you've said, that we were drawn to the fire - mesmerized by the dancing flames.
There is something so comforting in it.
Enjoy.
There is something so comforting and peaceful that comes with a fireplace.
Blessings,
Jasmine
I am delighted to have found my way here...I love when great thoughts come wrapped in worthy words...
Though I am not going to wish away my heat, I do wish away the mind clutter often. It is one reason I stopped watching television 6 years ago. It redeemed for me a great deal of space..as the loss of your heat has done for you.
I will return!
a hand on the back and and flames to mesmerize the doubts away ...such a blessing!
It's here, it's here! You're book arrived in today's mail - can't wait!
Sorry - I pushed the wrong button - not anon. Travelmom! Looking forward to reading tonight.
Blessings,
Lori
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