If I don’t finish writing this entry, it will be because my fingers have frozen all the way through and snapped off my body. But don’t worry, it won’t be bloody. Because the blood will have all frozen in my veins. I’m basically a human popsicle!
It’s COLD. Like, freeze-your-fingers-off cold. Don’t-cry-outside-or-your-tears-will-freeze-on-your-face cold. Which is FINE when it’s all toasty warm inside! I love cozying up with some hot cocoa and looking out the window at a winter wonderland.
HOWEVER!
I do NOT love shoveling the driveway, or taking Daisy out to do her business in the snow! (Daisy, however, seems to LOVE the snow. She goes totally bonkers, zooming all around licking it while I can only see the tip of her tail where it’s really deep.)
But even those things are OKAY, because eventually I come home and get warm. Right? RIGHT?? You would THINK!
Except it has gotten SO cold that our heat stopped working! Something in the heater froze—like, how DUMB is that?! I don’t understand exactly what happened, but you would think that HEATING systems would have some sort of protection against, um, COLD!!
ANYWAY, our house has been without heat for the whole day. As soon as we realized what had happened, Dad built a fire in the fireplace. It was cozy and awesome. But it wasn’t long before the fire was dying down, and we didn’t have any more wood! And every other room in the house was FREEZING!
Dad went out to try to gather sticks, and Mom went into the kitchen to scavenge for food we could cook over the fire. While they were busy, Brianna had the bright idea to haul the recycling bin in by the fire and start adding paper and cardboard. I have to admit, I actually DID think it was a bright idea. I didn’t realize that paper and cardboard would make a WHOLE LOT more smoke than fire! So then our living room was filled with a ton of smoke and we had to open the front door to let the smoke out. Which made it even MORE FREEZING!!
Dad came back without any more firewood (because we live in Westchester, not Narnia). The fire was 100% dead by that time.
“Okay,” Mom said, “dance party!”
…EXCUSE ME?!!
Turns out Mom’s big plan to keep us all warm was…body heat! Yup, she sacrificed the last of her phone battery to play some ancient music from the 1990’s and we all danced around the living room. Which, okay, I have to admit was kind of fun. Except the problem with dancing for warmth is that you can’t dance forever. (Also, OMG. My parents’ dancing was sooooo embarrassing! No one else was there to see them and I was STILL embarrassed!! 🙁 )
After a while, Mom, Dad, and I were all gasping for the breath, huddled on the couch (while Brianna kept flailing around—she probably COULD dance forever). And then there was a knock at the door. I had no idea WHO would be outside in this weather.
It was Max Crumbly!
“Er, hey,” he said. “Is…your sister okay?”
I looked over my shoulder at Brianna, who was still flailing around like there were ants in her pants.
“Yeah,” I said. “That’s just normal Brianna.”
“Come on in, Max,” my dad called. “Let’s not let the cold air in!”
(Um, Dad…like it wasn’t just as cold inside?!)
“Hey, Maxwells,” Max said to everyone. “Um, my mom and I came over to check on my grandma, and she’s got a generator going so her place is nice and toasty. We couldn’t help but notice you through the windows, dancing in your winter gear and thought you might be cold?”
At that moment I was too busy being grateful to Max and Mrs. Wallabanger to be embarrassed that someone actually HAD seen my parents dancing (and me)!!
We took Daisy and headed over to Max’s grandma’s house. I thought I had died and gone to tropical heaven! It was soooo warm. And she was baking cookies! So now that my fingers have thawed enough to move, I’m writing in my journal. And, I am NOT going home until the heater is fixed!
But what I AM going to do when I get home is go through my closet and gather ALL my extra coats, gloves, and scarves so we can take them down to the homeless shelter. Why? Because today has made me realize how LUCKY I am to have a warm house when the heater is working, and neighbors that look out for us! 🙂
