Being warm in the cold season

       There's lots of ways to be warm during the cold season. Said another way, there is no right or wrong, good or bad way, just many ways that might appeal and work for you and your Family. Bottom line is being warm during the cold season.

            Of course the caveats first, so you don't have to try read between the lines in this post. My experience and this post is shaped by 10 years of living in the country, preceded by 20 years in the Marines, and a lifetime of doing sports. Plus I read a lot. Now presently I live at 36 degrees north latitude in east Tennessee at altitude 2,000 feet. Some may say that is warmer than where they live and they are probably right. Some may say that is colder than where they live, and that is probably right, too.

            Five quick stories first. I once lived in a tent with a dirt floor where it never got above freezing for over thirty days straight, and my main job was outside. Now that was cold to me, though the locals in that part of Korea thought it was normal.  And I once lived in Saudi Arabia in January and in the desert, and there was ice in my canteen in the morning in January. Shaving in the early morning dark with cold water was a bummer. So much for the idea of the desert always being hot year round. Third, where I live now there is such an idea as a freeze line, like the world can be an ice crystal palace above a certain elevation, and just cold below that line. Fourth, I once spoke with a lady from Nebraska, and they (she and her husband) had their daughter go out to the barn to chop up to 12" of ice out of the electrically heated water trough just to water their horse. Last, a lifetime of sports and camping has influenced me, too.  Most of my experience in this area is outside, and a good sleeping bag is really appreciated for sleep.

            Now I could go on, but for this post choose to limit my own stories.

            And some of being warm during the cold season is mental, attitude, whatever. Like 68 F in the warm season is a nice air conditioned temperature, but generally considered cool during the cold season. Of course, humidity has something to do with that, too. So one solution to being warm during the cold season is just to use the thermostat if you can. Now whether it is healthy, or affordable, is your decision. And our ancestors often built houses with up to 14' ceilings just to get through the warm season before we had electricity.

            Another solution is to just put on more clothes and even long johns, usually in layers. Now if you are a couch potato, maybe more clothes will help as you lay around, but if you exercise either through work or sports,  probably less layers will be better for you. Also a good zipper around the neck and chest area helps many in places where the temperature or your work varies during the day. I can remember knowing this, like really being chilled for 15 minutes until my body warmed me up during a run up the eastern seaboard of the USA during the winter. And some Vaseline on the skin, or something like it, sure helped the exposed skin.

            Last ideas that might help you. Being wet during any season, especially the cold season, makes things much more uncomfortable, often miserable if one outside stops moving.  Knowing that there is warm anything in the end, be it coffee, ramen soup, or just broth, is a big morale booster. That idea implies a team effort, like someone else under the roof will have warm anything ready when the other comes out of the cold, maybe wet, weather.

            So one can be warm during the cold season, and the possibilities and options about how to do so are many.  Now you do have to figure it out for your Family and where you live.