La Cheminée (the Fireplace)

A cottage-cozy evening of sparkling spiced cider spiked with brandy and clove-studded lemon slices nesting with smokey vetiver, star anise, perique tobacco, honeycomb, tonka, soft woods, and a worn leather loveseat by the fireside. And, for the winter fireside meet, Between the andirons' straddling feet, The mug of cider simmered slow, The apples sputtered in a row, And, close at hand, the basket stood With nuts from brown October's wood. What matter how the night behaved? What matter how the north-wind raved? Blow high, blow low, not all its snow Could quench our hearth-fire's ruddy glow. - John Greenleaf Whittier Art: The Cottage at the Foot of the Mountain by John Bauer, 1914