Old Standby...

The first chilly wind of the season is rushing down my chimney, stoking my fire and making the whistling noises I covet. It brings to my mind the scene from Jane Eyre when she's standing outside of St. John's house looking in on this cozy display...the fire, the sisters studying their German, the servant knitting...("This scene was as silent as if all the figures had been shadows and the firelit apartment a picture: so hushed was it, I could hear the cinders fall from the grate, the clock tick in its obscure corner; and I even fancied I could distinguish the click-click of the woman's knitting-needles.") God, I love that book. In any season, really, but especially when the world turns cold...