Heating the Family

A few weeks ago our heat went out and the part to fix it was on back order until this past Monday. We had space heaters to keep us warm but our family tended to congregate in the only room with a fireplace.

And this made me think about the blessings of a heat furnace and its pontential problems. Technology shapes people. In times when fireplaces were a necessity and not a luxury families spent their time together in the most heated room. That's the way it appears in Laura Ingalls Wilder's books and in Jane Austen's too.

With the advent of modern heating systems family members can be in different parts of the house, not interacting, but staying warm. While I don't intend on getting rid of my furnace anytime soon, I am more aware of where my warmth should come: cuddling up on a couch with my kids and wife all around me as we read a good book together.