I just love getting lost in a great book.
I have a study room with a fireplace and I spend most of my time in there sitting on my nice comfortable couch.
There’s no TV or video games in the study room either. I just want peace and quiet and to hear nothing but the crackling of the firewood. I like being able to escape from life for a bit and I can do this in books. The fireplace keeps me comfortable and warm and the crackle of the flames is very relaxing. I have to admit, on days when it’s too hot to use the fireplace, sometimes I turn on the air-conditioning just a bit so that the fireplace can still be used. I know this is a little crazy but I do like the fireplace immensely. My wife has asked me why I would waste energy on the air conditioner when I’m using the fireplace at the same time. She thinks it’s like using the gas furnace and air conditioner at the same time and it doesn’t make any sense to her. I can’t blame her. This is pretty similar, but it’s not the same. Not to me anyway. You don’t get the same comfort from the gas furnace as you do from a fireplace. Besides, we all waste a little bit. My wife likes to take hour-long showers, for example, and I don’t bug her about wasting all that water. I guess running the AC and the fireplace at the same time is just the way that I am wasteful. Still, it doesn’t feel wasteful when I’m doing it.