Appreciating simple things: the humble candle warmer

When I was a teen, I liked buying incense from the alternative/hippie stores downtown. I burned it in my room, with the windows closed, and never gave a thought to what I was inhaling or what it might be doing to my lungs. As a middle-aged person, I've given up on incense, but I have many, many scented candles. Some of these have a story: they were gifts, or were acquired on a trip or other memorable occasion. Most are without provenance: I have utterly no recollection of how or when they were acquired. I suspect many households have this problem with coffee mugs. I seem to attract candles. In late 2024, I got COVID, for the first (and so far only) time. It was pretty bad. It took me many, many months to feel better, and around 9 months for my lungs to feel normal again. During that time, I was hypersensitive to anything in the air. Humidity, the slightest chill, and especially smoke. There were no candles lit during this time. If the air quality was anything worse than "good", I was…