The Beauty of the Flame

"A Lucky few still have a fireplace, and this is where I would like to begin. In the 1970s I bought a house in the country with a fine hearth. For my children, then between ten and twelve, the experience of fire, of burning logs, of flames, was something entirely new, and I realized when the fire was lit they lost all interest in television. The flame was more beautiful and varied than any television program - it told countless stories, it could flare up at any moment, it didn't follow the set patterns of the television show."

Umberto Eco, 'The Beauty of the Flame", in Inventing the Enemy

I remember, when Tim's parents' house where they lit the fire at their fireplace, staring at the log for a long, long time....

P.S. and Proust would have agreed.