Do you have a nice warm bed with flannel sheets and lots of blankets?
Dealing With the Cold
Here are 2 stories from my life that may enlighten you to the fact that you can survive well if you have no heating in your home/room.
Story Number 1
This goes back to the late 60′s. I was a college student living at home (Central Wisconsin-often the "coldest spot in the nation today" as the radio announcer often told us) and my brother left for the navy. I inherited his bedroom and for the first time in my life, I had my own room. The bedroom was upstairs, across the way from the attic door, which was actually a curtain hanging in the doorway. The attic’s ceiling was just the wood underneath the shingles of the roof. No insulation. In my new bedroom, there were no heat vents coming in from the basement furnace. I lived in this bedroom for 3 years, through all seasons.
This bedroom was my schoolroom for learning how to cope with extreme indoor temperatures. Before I describe my experiences in winter in this room, let me mention that there are 2 kinds of people in this world: people who are usually hot, and people who are usually cold. I am usually cold. I wear a sweater when it is 80 degrees.
In this bedroom, during the month of January and usually half of February or more, you could see your breath! Any time of the day. Frost, as well as being on the outside of the window, was on the inside of the window and usually 1 inch thick or more. We had 3 windows on the west wall. You could not see out the window for all that frost. We never tried to chisel it off…more would come the next day if we did.
Well, I had to sleep and sleep well because I always had early classes (that started at 7am) to walk over a mile to (there are other stories!) This was my strategy:
First I made sure I had flannel top and bottom sheets on the bed. And then I made sure I had at least 5 blankets on the bed including 2 heavy wool army blankets . My pajamas were actually thick sweat pants and a thick sweat shirt with insulated (thermal underwear) top under the sweat shirt. I had thick hunting socks on my feet and a thick knit cap on my head. I can’t recall if I had mittens on…probably.
Now, here is where my brilliance shows up: I jogged in place for 10 minutes or so..until my blood was going strong, my heart was beating fast , my muscles were all working and I was generating a lot of heat. Then I would jump in bed and cover up! The heat from my body would quickly spread to the flannel sheet below me and the blankets on top of me and soon I would be in dreamland…not caring if my breath was visible and the ice on the windows increased through the night.
So do not be dismayed if you home is unheated during a power outage in winter. Just dress warm and do some heavy exercising periodically to keep you body warm. You’ll do fine.
Story Number 2
I am a pansy compared to my former neighbor. She was a single mom, had 5 kids at home, and lived across the street in a big 2 story house. For 3 winters (maybe more) there furnace was broke and never repaired. They could not afford it. So how did they keep warm? They just wore their coats all day and all night. They got used to this and were fine.
What we learn is this: We can survive in a cold house. Be grateful for the walls and roof to keep the wind out, and bundle up with extra clothes, jackets, sweaters, etc. Have on hand a nice thick knit stocking cap for each member of the family and heavy socks! (go to the hunting section of Walmart or sporting good stores for the best socks!) And have some fun exercising.
Another tip:
Use your Sterno stove or propane stove to make hot drinks of herb tea, hot chocolate, hot prune juice (this is a favorite of mine), hot broth, etc. This will comfort and warm your chilled bodies. You will survive and you will have some good stries (like me) to tell your children and grandchildren.
Thanks for logging on. Remember: If you are prepared,you shall not fear. ~Joan Hulihan
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