The Warmth of a New Fireplace

In a new house
There is the chance that
You might feel really warm

In a new house with a fireplace
The fire is fed with cold air
Ushered in from outside through an intake pipe

No longer is warm air sucked out into winter
Along with the delicious aroma of burning wood
That so often tickles my nose
Now that winter has arrived

I inhale it nearly
Every time I bounce out to take a dirty diaper to the trash
Returning the control of the aroma-ways in our house
To the vanilla and cinnamon scented candles
Every time I collect the mail
Hoping for a Christmas card to bring another friend
Back into my life
If even for a moment
Every time I retrieve some forgotten item from the car
Hoping to bring a smile to the faces of
One or the other of my children
If only for a moment
Every time turn on the holiday lights
In anticipation of my wife’s much awaited arrival home and
In anticipation of the smiles and shrieks of joy
When they go on

We live in the first complete planned community
Housing for veterans and/or steelworkers alike
Often in search of their first home
Back in the 1950s
Not exactly chocked full of modern technology or
Originally equipped with fireplaces but
Over the years
Families have come and gone and
Come again and
The houses have changed too
People have added garages and dormers and
Along the way even a few fireplaces
Maybe even recently
In the midst of a war or two and
A recession and double digit unemployment

So I can’t know for sure if
Hot or cold air is going in or if
It matters at all for what goes out
Since there is a fire at the root of all of this but
That means I can’t explain why
Once I make sure the house isn’t on fire or
Our furnace hasn’t developed a problem we can’t afford to fix
I feel warm inside

It might be that I’d be happier in a newer subdivision
Even without mature trees
As long as my newer house has a fireplace
Fed with cold air ushered in from outside through an intake pipe

I might always feel warm inside