I am in my apartment, speaking with someone, and mention how much I would want a fireplace - more for the mantle piece and ambiance than warmth. (This is something that is directly tied into my desire for one, and I have mentioned this to a number of people lately.) I then go on to say how I would rearrange the furniture to accommodate it. A few minutes pass in this way, when I suddenly realize that something has changed.
I am now in a small house, and there in the middle of the main wall, right where my book case is now, is a small pot-belly stove. Of course! How could I have forgottent hat I owned one! I open the door on it, and see that a fire is already dancing hot - a fire that is blue, and I sbyee that it's gas-fed. I watch this for a while, and become somewhat alarmed when I see the wooden beams in the basement appear to also have these blue flames. I run to the basement, and see a large puddle of coffee spilled on the flag-stone floor, and my son Pete muttering about the loss of his coffee while he's diligently mopping it all up with a rag. I tell him I'll put some more coffee on, right after I check the stove connections. I do this and find that everything is in order, and go back upstairs.The living room has changed again in my absence.
It is now larger, and another black cast-iron fireplace is stocked high with hardwood logs. This one is considerably bigger than the pot-belly stove, and is placed around an alcove that materialized in the living room. This room has many large windows all around, and now the floors are also sporting the gray polished flagstone. My furniture is rearranged for maximum comfort and coziness, but I can see that it's somehow not enough in the spaceseness. Through one of these windows, I see the huge back-yard and the forest line of trees in the distance, but close to the house, is Pete, chopping up more wood, singing loudly as he's doing so.
I smile and turn to wonder at the fireplaces and am shocked to see that I am now in a huge hall - indeed a castle hall!! The furniture and the two fireplaces look absolutely lost. The flagstones are now covering the walls as well, and there are columns in wide double rows soaring up to the arching ceiling. Against the opposite wall is indeed a fireplace - huge, over six feet tall and double that in width, capable of burning whole logs!! The stone mantle piece, which is no less than a yard wide, is filled with beautiful ornaments, tall candle holders, vases, garlands of greens and flowers and huge baskets of fruit. As I struggle to take all this in, I see my daughter Dorry on the gallary balcony above me, and waving to her, I run up the gracefully curved stairs to her and hug her, marvelling at this transformation. But it's not finished yet - I see from this height that the place is now hung with bright tapestries and banners. The room next to the "living room" is actually a gallery that is filled with magnificent paintings. But more shocking to see is that the entire space is occupied by people dressed in magnificent clothing, some arm in arm, some singly. From somewhere unseen is the sound of pipes, drums, harps, lutes and violes.
This was kicking the SCA experience up by about 100 notches!!
My "living room" is still there, looking pathetically swallowed up in all this grandure, and I worry momentarily about my loss of privacy, but I do know that all this will be sorted out soon. For now, I'm thrilled to see my new "digs", the centerpiece of which is that magnificant fireplace and mantle piece!!
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