Burning Content

I remember as a child not liking tomatoes. They left a flat, watery taste in my mouth, and their texture was somehow unsatisfying. I tried to learn to like them, but with not much luck. At some point, I just started avoiding them unless they were forced upon me.

But then in early adulthood, 20 years of age or so, all that changed. For some reason, tomatoes suddenly filled my mouth with a light and sparkling flavor. Since then I have always enjoyed them immensely.

Now something similar has happened with candles. Up to this point in life, I found candles bothersome, cloying and illogical. After all, why use a candle when the wonder of modern lighting is at your fingertips.

But now that has changed as well. Burning a candle after I come home from work gives me a great sense of contentment, erasing a lot of the abrasiveness encountered throughout the day. I even like scented ones, and scented ones of all colors. Almost ridiculously, I find myself shopping for them, looking for new scents, different sizes, different burn techniques. Right now, I have two different aromas burning, one peach and one called Fresh Breeze (now that leaves your imagination wide open, doesn’t it?).

Candlelight is certainly comforting, making bulb light feel somehow corrosive. Perhaps there’s some deep-seated behavior from our cavepeople days that makes this feel so rewarding. After all, an apartment or house is little more than a glorified cave, and a little candlelight never did any of them any harm.