almost as good as the real thing

Okay, so not all of us are blessed with a working fireplace. Colin and I happen to have three fireplaces, none of which we can actually use. But this time of year, when it's chilly and wet outside and everyone's predicting snow (yay!), you kinda want to have the crackling noise in the background to comfort and warm the soul. So, here's our solution: one hi-def T.V. placed strategically in front of an empty fireplace, plus one ambient fireplace DVD from the Netherlands equals something so close to the real thing, it does everything a real fireplace does—it looks like a fire, it crackles like a fire—everything except emanate real heat. But it's got your other senses so fooled, you almost feel like it's warming you up. And with no messy clean-up, I'm thinking this is the way to go. Heck, maybe we'll even save on heat this winter. Just maybe.