Brrrrrrrr...

There hasn't been much winter this winter. We've had virtually no snow, and I think there was only one day in January when the temperature here in Boston was "normal," and not well above average. Overall, January's been more like March: rain, overcast, windy, temps in the 40's. I read somewhere that Boston's January was more like a Washington, DC January. For DC, their January was an Atlanta one.

But by early last week, they were predicting something wicked cold this way comes. Temps Friday-into-Saturday around 10 below zero; wind chill making it 30 below. Yikes!

On Friday, when I headed out at 6:45 a.m., it was in the 20s. Nothing too bad. 

The homeless shelter where I volunteer, St. Francis House, - regularly open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. - was staying open 24 hours to give rough sleepers a place to come in from the cold, so there were a few additional tasks for me to see to. I spent a few hours bagging up hygiene kits so we'd be all set if we had a lot of takers for the extra hours. I then worked a lunch shift. Lunch was pretty busy, but nothing too crazy. We didn't run out of garlic bread, which - sometimes - we do.

Heading for home a bit after 1 p.m., the temp was in the low teens. And it was windy.

My walk home is all of 10 minutes, and I was bundled up. But despite a long down parka with the hood up, a woold cap under that hood pulled down over my ears, a thick wool scarf wrapped around and around the lower part of my face, and a pair of mittens lined with bunny fur, I was plenty happy to close the door behind me for the duration.

Amazingly, while walking home through the Boston Common, I saw plenty of (young) people with their coats open - no hat, no scarves, no gloves. One (young) woman with her coat unzipped was wearing a belly shirt.

Oh, to be stupid? Oh, to be young?

Brrrrrrrr...

Once home, I jacked the thermostat up a couple of degrees. 

I live in an old building. A really old building. And once my place gets too cold, it stays too cold. So I set the temp at 70 - above my 68 norm - just to keep pace with what was happening outdoors. Because, baby, it was getting cold outside.

For dinner, I threw a chicken pot pie that had been languishing in the freezer, waiting for a cold snap or a blizzard, into the oven. An hour-and-a-quarter at 400 degrees warmed my kitchen up a bit. And the pie was delish - enough for Friday and Saturday dinner. 

But the kitchen warm up was temporary only. It's a greenhouse kitchen. So, despite the fact that the windows are pretty good: baby it's cold inside.

On the news, they were playing cold weather warnings on loop. 

I heeded the warnings and put the kitchen faucet, the bathroom faucets, the shower, on drip, drip, drip.

On the news, they showed some cops in the Public Garden (my front yard, more or less) approaching a man - totally wrapped in a sleeping bag; you couldn't see his face - and advising him to get in out of the cold. He refused. 

I wonder if he made it through the night. 

I haven't heard about anyone freezing to death, so I'm guessing he did.

Still, Friday wasn't the night to play around.

As forecast, it went well below zero, with a wind chill around 30 below. 

I was happy to be in watching Dateline, an afghan over my legs.

I usually set my thermostat to 65 when I go to bed, but Friday night I left it at 70. When I woke up, it was still below zero on the outside, and 62 degrees in my downstairs room (which is where my bedroom and den are). I know that, theoretically, hot air rises. And maybe it does to the upper reaches of my high ceilinged, long windowed living room. But if it was 62 in my bedroom, it was probably 52 in the part of the living room I actually live in.

I jacked the thermostat up a notch, to 71.

And gradually, the inside and outside temperature got warmer.

By 5:30 p.m., it was 16 degrees outside, and 67 inside.

Not that I was outside. Saturday was definitely a day for indoors everything. 

To ward off the chill, I upped my dressing game.

Last September, when in Ireland, I got myself a very pretty Irish knit hoodie coat sweater. I've had precious little opportunity to wear it yet. Fall was too warm to wear it out. Winter's been too warm to wear it in. But Saturday: perfect!

Sunday, things were all better, and we were back to new normal. 

Temperatures for this week are forecast to be in the 40's and 50's.

There's still plenty of time to still have some miserable cold and snowy winter. But so far, so good.

Other than the other night, especially if you're a rough sleeper, someone without a home who chooses to sleep outdoors rather than spend the night in a shelter. 

Hope they all made it through the bitter cold night we just experienced.

Brrrrrrrr...