The Lighting of the Furnaces

In the morning, it’s usually cooler inside our house than it is outdoors. That’s a good thing during the summer. But today, the outside temperature was in the upper 60s, and inside it was in the lower 60s. During the week we probably wouldn’t have cared, because by evening, when we get home from work, the house is warmed up a little. But this being the weekend, well, it was just a little too cool to be comfortable.

So I performed the annual lighting of the furnaces.

We have wall furnaces. I don’t think I’d ever seen such a thing before I moved down to New Orleans. (This is the first place I’ve ever lived that didn’t have central heat.) Here’s a picture of the one in our living room:

They’re not the most attractive things in the world. We’ve got another one in our bedroom. They are gas powered, and have to be lit by hand. It’s one of those rituals that marks the passing of the seasons.

Completely unrelated: Xy and I went to see Sideways last night. It was the best film I’ve seen (in a theater anyway) in quite some time. I almost cried, not because it was sad or funny, although it was both, but because it was so good.

Update: I jumped the gun with the furnaces. It warmed up the next day and I actually turned the one in the bedroom off and cranked the one in the living room all the way down. It’s been highs in the seventies all the past week, and I think we’ll crack 80 today.