
Relatively speaking, the threat of current weather conditions is trivial, but
an ice storm is promised through noon today. I have realistically not had to consider an involuntary loss of heat since 1969-usually I live cool by choice. With flickering lights and a severe chill factor, though,
the prospect of domestic hypothermia is not just an abstract notion. The rule of thumb is that if you feel cold, you are cold. Act right away if your body tells you it's cooling off. Be high maintenance rather than playing catch-up.
The streets are sheets of ice, and though I could mush out to a local coffee shop, I’d just as soon not bother, since I had other plans for the day.
If the heat goes down, there are a couple of options that will keep me comfortable.
Working in bed is a given. Working in the warmest imaginable low-tech bed is another given. A couple of years ago, as an act of deliberate folly, I improvised a four-poster frame for a mattress on a box base. I used galvanized iron greenhouse couplings and galvanized electrical conduit. The top of the structure is a painted slab of plywood lashed to the frame with zip ties. I happen to like high-tech furnishings, and this one is fun and elegant in an unpretentious way. The solid top is in the Elizabethan tradition of four-posters, and I like to think it will protect a sleeper from cascading plaster in case of earthquake. The hangings are simple panels of high thread-count putty-colored cotton drop cloth. I installed elegant battery powered reading lights that are intended to be used in tents. Should the power go down, I can flip a down duvet onto the top of the bed for an added layer of insulation and nestle under another in the room within a room.
Not everyone happens to have a functional four-poster bed, but
many of us have tents that hold themselves up without stakes. The political demonstrators in the Bangkok airport several years ago taught the world the value of freestanding tents as news cameras panned across the dozens of colorful little living units that spread across the lobby of the terminal.
It’s easy to set up a dome tent in a room-just keep the poles away from the knick-knacks. A tent and a four-poster are essentially the same critter.
Improve the insulation in the tent by covering it with a warmth or two: a large comforter is ideal. The harder the circumstances, the less looks matter.
If conditions get really grim-if the end of your nose is cold and getting colder-and other shelter is not available, improvise a tent with a table and any textiles on hand. Insulate the floor with layers of newspaper. Nibble and drink constantly.Days like this one are the best argument for emergency preparedness. Unfortunately, I don’t have grounds to be smug. My supply of canned vegetables could be better and the chocolate is running low. There are ten grocery stores within a few blocks of the house, but I failed to factor in my current unwillingness to walk on ice.
I wish I had a big cabbage in the refrigerator.-30-
More after the jump.