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Grex Ing Item 86: An INGle Under One's Shingle
Entered by bhoward on Mon Jan 19 05:02:15 UTC 2004:

One "ING" I miss terribly since moving to Japan is the traditional INGle
under the shINGle, that is, the sadly no-longer-so-common traditional
fireplace of lore and legend.  

Ah, the glorious hearth that makes ones home a delight in the cold of
Winter's night, a court of comradery and cheer, and a convenient nook
before which to snuggle with a close companion.  Humble brick and mortar
built upon the meanest of flagstone, once warmed by the crackling heat of
a forest log thaws the coldest of hearts, drawing them before the embers
and amongst friends to forget, if briefly, the chill of northern winds.

Yet the realities of today's housing often make the hearth an ideal
or dream and people have to find other means of staving off the slings
and arrows of outrageous winter weather.  In our home, we use Christmas
lights, cooking and the (more than) occasional hot toddy to keep Winter
at bay.  When we can, we invite friends over to share in the eating and
merriment, and often the cooking.  We can fairly accurately measure the
success of such endevours by the number of bodies crashed out on the
tatami the next day.

How do you pass away a winter's eve, keeping the cheer in and the
chill out?

4 responses total.

#1 of 4 by mary on Mon Jan 19 11:26:17 2004:

One of my most favorite cold winter night experiences is to have the
fireplace going while the view to the snow covered outdoors is wide open. 
Hot chocolate (with marshmallows) in hand I usually start out by reading,
but this quickly shifts to lights out.  Sitting morphs into stretching
out. A cat snuggles in with his Demi Moore purr.  And, sometimes, a hubby
wanders by and joins me.

I love those moments.

#2 of 4 by scott on Mon Jan 19 13:44:53 2004:

Light a fire in the woodstove.  :)

#3 of 4 by cmcgee on Mon Jan 19 16:04:50 2004:

I like a mass of candles clustered on a clear glass table top.  Creates a
glowing eye-focus without the fireplace.

#4 of 4 by keesan on Thu Jan 22 14:13:42 2004:

I have an electric heating pad in the bed.  Cozy and easier than filling a
hot water bottle.  Jim likes hot baths.  He also gets warm by biking around
in this weather.

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