I’ve got to tell you, for the past several years I insisted that I would never live through a real winter again.
By that, I mean that I was dead set against experiencing is very cold, windy, snowy weather that had marked my entire upbringing.
When I was growing up I remember being cold all the time in the winter season. It was so brutally chilly outside that you had to wear at least five layers of clothing if you didn’t want to get frostbite. We always had to operate our forced air furnace in order to keep the family comfortable and the household pipes from bursting. I will call my parents complaining about the high energy bills created by our inefficient forced air furnace more days than not. We’re not allowed to touch the central heating, cooling, and ventilation system thermostat nor were we allowed to complain about the low indoor air temperatures when our heating, cooling, and air quality control devices could not keep up with the Arctic air outside. Since all of those experiences, I have been committed to living in a warm and balmy environment. I have never wanted to rely on a forced air furnace or go through the pain and suffering of a normal winter season. However, life doesn’t really care what you want. I found myself moving back to my old winter climate last year and trying to find new ways to survive the undesirable air temperature. One of the most powerful things that I have found in a traditional fireplace, of all things. It turns out, your forced air furnace can only do so much… But a wood burning fireplace really heats up your house. Since I have been relying on a fireplace instead of a furnace, my thoughts about winter have drastically improved.