Autumn is settling in, and temperatures are in the 40's to 60's Fahrenheit here. Most of our neighbors are firing up their furnaces, but we'll hold out for another month or two, until the snow is falling in earnest.
Mostly, this is because my girlfriend and I have a different approach than our neighbors to being cold. The response many people have learned to a chilly wind is to tense up our muscles, get irritated, and maybe start shivering. But if you just relax and let the cold in, you'll find it's really nothing to fear. The body finds another way to keep you warm. This is probably a combination of brown adipose tissue doing its work of burning fat to keep you warm, and vasoconstriction to allow your extremites and skin to get cold. In the interest of working these abilities, I'll take "Scottish showers" a few times a week. Whenever I'm in the mood for a cold slap in the face in the morning.
At night, we sleep under a big, comforting pile of blankets: sheet, electric blanket (which also pre-heats the bed), fleece blanket, duvet, wool camp blanket. Also, hats. 50 degrees in the bedroom is great sleeping weather. I've slept comfortably in temps as low as 40 degrees, but that was in my bachelor days.
Outdoors, you need to be careful about frostbite. Shivering and getting tense is still the wrong approach. Going back indoors to get a better hat or your knee-length overcoat and a scarf is the right approach. The way I dress in the middle of winter here allows me to stay toasty warm whether hiking or just sitting on a park bench at -10 F.
October 04, 2018 at 03:18PM
