Candlelight is Good

I love candlelight and apparently someone else does too. Just read the latest post in 'An Aesthete's Lament' and I couldn't agree more. Candlelight is divine. However, most of the time here in Houston, candles make a room dreadfully hot. Either one must turn the airconditioning way down to defuse the heat. In wintertime, should we ever have a real winter, we open doors into the back garden.

I remember an evening that ten of us gathered for a neighbor's supper right after Hurricane Ike. None of us had electric power, but we all had plenty of thawing food in our freezers. Thus night after night, dinners were cooked by those of us who had gas stoves and ovens. As we sat at my dining room table that evening., utterly engaged in conversation, we suddenly became so hot and yes, sweaty, glowing, perspiring, that to a person and with some regret, we agreed to blow out the dozens of candles lighting the room. We substituted upended flashlights on the table and went on with our meal. It was still very muggy, but indeed, it was just a bit cooler.