The Thing About Easy

Building a business from scratch isn’t easy. Neither is homeschooling one’s kids. Or traveling across the country with them in a small SUV and two suitcases.

Which brings me to fireplaces.

Our basement has had a gas fireplace, but it’s in a really weird spot in the lower level and we spend most of our family time upstairs, so we’ve only used it maybe twice in the 8 years that we’ve owned the home. After this summer’s basement renovation, Kim and I created a little sitting area in front of the fireplace in the hopes of making it more usable.

We also decided to convert it to wood burning.

Now for some people, you would have thought that we were planning to permanently remove the roof from our house. To them, we are fools to ditch the ease and convenience of gas. We’ve been advised about how much more work is involved in a wood burning fireplace, as if we are aliens just settling in to this planet called Earth, unaware of a technology that allows you to start a fire by flipping a switch on the wall.

We understand the pros of a gas fireplace, and we have nothing against them or people who go that route. We just love the full sensory experience of an old-fashioned fire. Not just the warmth and the flicker of the flames, but the woody smell, the dancing sparks, and every snap, crackle, and pop. Not to mention the subtle beauty of a smoldering log as the flame slowly finishes its fiery dance.

No doubt all this requires a lot more effort.

Then again, it’s always easier to cook a steak in the microwave.

Sometimes ease and convenience isn’t the point.