“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 977 (Saturday) – weathering

The winter temperature in the house is usually set at 67 or 68 degrees for the fall and winter, chosen  after some fine tuning after fall/winter of  2016-17, first winter in the house. Through strategic layering of Cuddle Duds base layers and sweaters, usually three layers for winter keep it tolerable. Until now. 

Winter is still a month out, but lately, I am always cold, no matter what I am wearing. If I go out somewhere, I often don’t bother to remove my coat after I return home. I sit on the couch for a while, eating dinner, watching TV, drinking hot herbal tea, still wearing my coat. This is extra odd, even for me. 

Watching a show,
still wearing a coat.

Overnight, the thermostat is programmed to drop to about 59 degrees, and with winter pajamas and three blankets on the bed, it’s comfortable and I sleep well, as long as I also have socks on. No socks means ice blocks for feet and the inability to sleep as a result.

With all the talk of the escalation of heating costs this winter, it hardly seems the time to bump up the heat setting in the house. But if this is the scenario when it’s still 30-something degrees outside, what will happen when it’s below zero? It’s possible I don’t really want to know. The current level of personal wimp-ness is already quite appalling.

The morning was spent arranging the existing sweaters and looking for a specific wool one my grandmother knit for me. The evening was spent online admiring merino wool hoodies and Nordic sweaters, not that I need to spend another dime on another sweater, or in this case, hundreds of dollars. Nor is there space to store another sweater until the least favorites of the existing collection are weeded out and donated or brought to a consignment shop.

Maybe the answer is to buy a larger house for more sweaters and blankets. Or just say “screw it,” sell ALL the sweaters, blankets, coats, and the house and use the money to move to a warmer climate where I may have to occasionally worry about being too warm (if I'm lucky).