On (almost) making a fire

Let me give you the conclusion: The logs never caught, the kindling ashes litter the bottom of the wet fireplace, and the house reeks of smoke.

Yes, I tried to make a fire tonight, and I failed.

My house has what's known as a 'built-in,' a fireplace that is basically an afterthought. Lacking a chimney, it's a triangular wart, occupying the place my Lay-Z-Boy should rightfully go.

Whitney has a cold, so I thought I'd build a fire and tend to her as she reposed on the couch. Lacking anything to use for firewood aside from our dining room set, I bought kindling at Lowe's and wood at Kroger, for a total of $10.

Arriving home, I set an initial fire only to find the flue wasn't open wide enough. The house filling with smoke, I doused the nascent fire with water, pushed the flue open with my fire tongs and started out again, but no matter how hard I tried, I never could get a good-sized log to catch fire.

I feel like such a failure...

* * *

It's just been that kind of a day...not terribly productive, nor focused, nor interesting, aside from some morning activities :-D

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