DISTRACTIONS Last Friday we had our fireplace swept, as we do every year. We “burn” almost every night from late September to early May. My husband likes the ambiance and we both like the smell and the warmth. I could do without the dirt of logs and kindling, and the constant stream of ashes, but in power outages we have been cozy and comforted and I have boiled water in my Greek coffee pot for morning coffee, which is key to blackout survival. A favorite moment in power outage history was in 1999, Hurricane Floyd. The temperature dropped after the storm and we lit a fire. I announced that we were having ice cream for dinner, which we and our small children ate in front of the hearth; they asked if we could have a hurricane every month. If I had been clever I would have made a hurricane night every once in a while. Prior to the sweeping this year, we lit a fire in late August, on a ninety degree day, to burn a creosot...