Feeling the Cold

 Yes.

We've been having overnight temperatures well below zero for days now. This is not unheard of, but it is unusual around here. And we're feeling it. I am certainly, but Ms. Che may be feeling it even more than I am. 

Our house is not well insulated, so the cold penetrates. The floors tend to be very cold, and some rooms get frighteningly cold, so we don't heat them. I was thinking about some neighbors who only heat one room in their house during the winter, and we're not actually that different. 

This winter, because of the extended cold spell, we've got some frozen pipes. The hot water line to the bathroom froze the first overnight below zero. Then the line to the toilet froze the next overnight, so there's no hot water and no water to the toilet still. The toilet would be OK -- we could fill the tank with a bucket -- except for the fact that the second night of below zero temps showed that the sewer line is backed up, perhaps from root invasion, but I thought at first that it was frozen too. Now, it shouldn't do that, but given how cold it's been and how long the super-cold has lasted, maybe it did? We haven't seen above freezing temperatures since last week. So...?

That means we have to find somewhere else to pee and poop until the plumbers can come, and that's not going to happen before Monday. So the most convenient place for us at the moment is the truck stop up at the interstate, maybe three-four miles or so. Not at neighbors'? Uh, no. They're dealing with their own issues.

This is the longest extended period of cold we've experienced since we've lived here. I know other parts of the country have had it worse, and I'm not complaining. But it is clarifying.

Given all the other issues we've been facing of late, the fact of the cold just goes to show how fragile the conveniences we take for granted -- like water and flushing toilets and well, cat food (which has become very hard to find around here) -- really are. 

If something happens, like an extended cold spell, or the electricity goes out for a long time (the longest we've experienced is 8 hours during the summer), or the gas stops flowing, or human food shortages show up more than they already have, what actually are we going to do?

We've taken modest preparatory steps, but it's hard to anticipate just what might or might not transpire. 

Over the last couple of years of the Covid pandemic, we've been getting used to not doing or having a lot of things that we once did. The whole population has been conditioned, if you will, to doing without and adapting behaviors to whatever new reality arises. We're so used to it, we hardly notice anymore.

Now we are seeing some of "what else" lies in store.

Be well. Stay sane!