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Heart of Fire
By Cherie Magnus
Published April 2002
Dear Ones Back Home,
When I searched the Internet last summer
for a San Miguel apartment, I only had five
requirements--reasonable price, quiet, accepts
Phoebe the Cat, no more than a fifteen minute
walk into town, and a wood-burning fireplace.
I soon found one which had everything on
my list (well ok, not the inexpensive rent
part.) God bless the Internet.
Some landlords in my search told me via
email that itīs not P.C. to burn wood here
because there is so little of it and so
their fireplaces are gas or they don't have
them at all, only electric heaters.
But I rationalize that a few logs
from dead trees burned to help me keep my
sanity is less damaging to the S.M. environment
than a big American car driving around El
Centro and I had left mine in L.A.
Or a gringa run amok!
A fireplace is important because I live
alone (except for Phoebe) and I know from
past experience that a real fire is a living
presence and company on lonely nights. I
stare into it, adjust the logs, watch the
color of the flames, smell the soul of the
burning wood. Gas logs just donīt cut it
for emotional warmth. So I reserved
the apartment for the winter, and enjoy
the occasional log fire those nights when
I read or study Spanish. But
in the middle of January the cold snap hit,
with two days of icy rain. Hey, Iīm from
L.A., I know what itīs like to be cold in
the house during the winter.
But one small fireplace to heat a whole
apartment on several levels when the temperature
is below 35? Sure, I know people have lived
here for thousands of years without heat,
but they perhaps became acclimatized. After
only a couple of weeks in Mexico, I wasnīt.
When I asked my landlady for a small electric
heater to use in the bedroom and the bath,
she refused on the basis of the electric
bill, and had the gardener bring in more
wood, lots more. At the same time, the gas
ran out and I had no hot water or cooking
facilities. So now as I write
this I am sitting (with Phoebe on my lap,
she who never saw fire until we moved here),
my feet on the hearth, and am enjoying the
flames and embers for more than aesthetic
and emotional reasons. More in touch with
the reality of what is primarily important.
I need the fire to warm my cold body--as
well as my soul.
And another of my requirements, the one
about the 15 minute walk to town? I got
that too, but didn't know it is 15 minutes
straight up! Which now is OK, too, because
my body is in better shape and I can eat
all those enchiladas and guacamole with
impunity! And the hike keeps me warm.
Warmly yours (at least for the moment)
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About
this author: With degrees in English,
Dance, and Library Science from UCLA,
Cherie has published many articles in
professional journals and magazines.
Her solo travels to Europe and Latin
America have inspired several pieces
published in Skirt!, PassionFruit, Moxie,
JourneyWoman, Dancing USA, GoNomad,
Open Spaces, Porthole, The Cusco Weekly,
the-vu, and various online magazines.
She was the dance critic for the Cerritos
News in Orange County, California before
moving to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
She is currently at work on a novel
situated in France, when she's not out
dancing. |
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Cherie Magnus
and Carlos Gavito, star of "Forever
Tango." |
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