10 October 2008

warm me up, baby

im norwegian.

its cold in norway in the winter.

everyone assumes that i am somehow more tolerant to cold temperatures because of this.

im not.

the thing is. in norway it gets really cold. and the winter is long. and summer isnt that warm either. so... we know how to winterize our houses. we have thick layers of insulation, three layer windows, heated floors and so on.

also we dress for the cold, wool, layers, snow suits, parkas, hats, scarves and mittens. there are no "snow days", if its 30 below and 5 feet of snow; get ur shit on and go to school! and we can take it cause our clothes are made to withstand the cold. underneath we are warm and toasty.

so really, im less tolerant to the cold. im so used to sitting inside during the winter with the heat on, maybe a fire going in the fire place, heated floors so the kids dont get cold when they crawl or play on the floor.

i refuse to go thru the winter being cold. it makes for a miserable time for everyone. so i give up on other stuff to be able to heat my home to a decent temperature. (63 degrees, sassy! that cant be healthy)

with oil prices being thru the roof (altho they are coming down), we are getting estimates on putting in a heat pump. these are wonderful little things that work as air conditioning in the summer and reverses to heat ur house in the winter. we are hoping to get one installed before heating season starts and save some money on oil this winter.

4 comments:

SassyFemme said...

You're talking like you're staying in the US for the foreseeable future???

The idea of heated floors sounds delightful!

62-64 is tolerable, we layer, we have space heaters, electric blanket, electric throw blanks.

Anonymous said...

I used to work in the Arctic, people think that means I love the cold. They are wrong, it was just worth putting up with the cold to get to do the work I loved. Also, the few people you see up there, don't care how goofy you look in all the stuff you need to wear to keep warm. Here in NY if you put on wind pants over your work clothes so you don't freeze walking to the train, they look at you like you are totally nuts.

Dharma Kelleher said...

I can appreciate what you're saying. I've always lived in the southern part of the U.S. For the past 13 years, I have lived in Phoenix, AZ where temps stay in the triple digits most of the year.

In the summer, we run from air conditioned house to air conditioned car. Outdoor activities are rare and usually avoided between April - September.

When high temps drop into the mid-90s in October, the cool air is euphoric.

weese said...

we feel similarly.
i would rather give up other stuff and have a warm home.
our home...especially in the winter, is our sanctuary.
so we don't go to dinner.
and this year we have cut back on all non-essetial purchasing.