The title is a quote from Marcus Tullius Cicero.

One of the things I loved about growing up in the house I did was the fact that we had a fireplace in the living room. It was a treat to light it up on a cold winter night and enjoy the smell of burning wood while warming up at the same time. I think the main negative about having a natural wood burning fireplace is the fact that ash and soot can get everywhere… I’m still not sure how I’d feel about having a gas logs in my fireplace, though.

However, after looking around at them and finding ones like R. H. Peterson Real Fyre Gas Logs, I have to say, they look amazing similar to the real thing! I can’t say if you’d get the same feel of crackling real wood and the smell, but you can turn it off and on with a simple turn of the wrist and there’s no worrying about whether you have wood to burn! Talk about taking some of the hassle away of maintaining a wood supply and keeping the chimney and fireplace clean of excess soot & ash! What’s awesome is my aunt & uncle recently installed a firepit in their backyard and while they don’t use outdoor gas logs, they used stones. It was amazing to sit in the backyard, circled around the fire, spending time with family, instead of crowding inside their home in the various different rooms. There were quite a group of us!

What’s interesting, I’ve learned, is that while vented gas logs provide a more realistic look in terms of the fire, they don’t provide as much heat as the ventless ones do! The former must be burned in a fireplace that can handle real wood burning. I think this could be a great gift idea for my parents. I don’t think my dad would enjoy going on the search for logs to burn if he wanted to light up for a romantic night in with my mom. Not that he’d come up with the idea on his own, as my mom’s told me he’s not really the romantic type