You'll get used to the cold

Back in the '90s, a popular line of tee-shirts on quite a few college campuses were Top Ten lists.I was reminded of those shirts yesterday when I was getting dressed and one of my souvenir shirts from Virginia Tech made it to the top of the rotation. Obviously inspired by David Letterman's top ten lists, the shirts featured The Top Ten Lies told on particular campuses or in specific programs. There were a few common themes. Every list targeting undergraduates would, for example, include a reference to a local watering hole with an ambiguous name. At Virginia Tech the line was "The Balcony is a theater" while at Michigan Tech it read "I was studying at the Library," both the Balcony and the Library being popular bars in their respective towns (although the Library is a whole lot classier than the Balcony ever aspired to be).

Other popular lies at Michigan Tech included lines like "You can graduate in 4 years" -- an indirect reference to a local slogan: "Michigan Tech, the best 5 or 6 years of your life" -- and "You'll get used to the snow."

Well, maybe a corollary to that would be "You'll get used to the cold." We've been experiencing a bit of a cold snap (a few days in a row with subzero temperatures, both day and night). We heat with wood, (the stove is a Jotul Bear, which I highly recommend to anyone who's stove-shopping), which is great during the day but can be a nuisance at night. The house can get too warm for it to be comfortable for sleeping. This winter I've been urging the S.O. not to stoke the stove too much in the evening. It's too hard to get a good night's sleep if the bedroom is like a sauna, especially when I decided to actually use the flannel sheets this month. I told him it's not that big a deal to wake up to a house that's a little chilly it we're able to sleep better in a cooler bedroom.

The downside to that directive has been evident during the past few mornings. The temperature in the house will drop by ten degrees or more between the time we go to bed and when I get up. I am a morning person, the S.O. most emphatically is not, so I'm the first one down the stairs to start the coffee, feed the cat, and check the woodstove. This morning it was about 5 below outside, and 63 in the house. Yesterday it was 61. As usual for the past couple winters, I'm sitting here in a room where the temperature is now up to about 67 and I'm comfortable in just my nightgown. No robe. Granted, the nightgown is the practical flannel kind (I am a grandmother; I have an image to maintain), but it is short-sleeved.

The first winter we were back from Atlanta, if it dropped much below 70, I'd be bundled up with a long bathrobe/housecoat/whatever made from sweatshirt material on top of the flannel nightie. I'd be pulling on socks before putting on the slippers, and I'd complain about freezing if the indoor thermometer registered below 68. Not anymore. I can't remember the last time I wore the robe, the only thing on my feet are some lightweight knitted slippers, and I'm comfortable. If I were a few years younger, a person might suspect it's not adaptation but hot flashes, but hey, I'm a geezer well past the "Is it warm in here or is it just me?" stage.

So, yes, you actually do get used to the cold.