I’ve lived up here for nearly 20 years and last night was one of the two or three coldest nights I can remember. It got a little freaky at times.

The farmhouse is well-built, snug, and cozy. It didn’t seem that anyone had slept upstairs for many years, if ever until we came.

There was no heat at all in the upstairs rooms when we moved in.

Last night was a test. It was so cold we thought we’d have to sleep downstairs in front of the woodstove fires.

I’ve always seen extreme weather as a willing test – human versus nature. Around where I live, they’ve been preparing for storms for centuries.

We had subzero temperatures and howling winds all night, and the winds seemed to blow right through the bedroom windows upstairs. It was daunting,  and the shrieking wind sounds were alarming to the dogs and us.

Maria took all of the cactuses and many of the plants out of the window and into the interior of the house.

It felt like summer camp, we pulled in all of the cactus and air plants away from the windows, and Maria draped some quilts and fabric over the bedroom windows to block the wind. The windows were all frosted, inside and out.

We thought we might have to sleep downstairs with Fate and Bud (Zinnia sleeps with us and seems not to notice cold) in front of the fires.

Much of the house is insulated.

(above: Cactus rescue)

But not the Northside, the side where our bedroom is. The room temperature was in the high 20’s when we first went inside; we turned on the baseboard heater and waited a while.

Fortunately, there are no pipes upstairs.

When we came up to see if we could sleep there, things had improved a bit. We have heated blankets, and I put on my apnea mask. The air into the show was ice cold and nearly froze my nose.

I left the downstairs heat on 60 so Fate and Bud could be warm, and it turned out they were more generous than we were.

The baseboard was gallant, the quilts blocked the wind, and the heated blankets made it comfortable to be in bed. I used the mask for four or five hours, and I slept pretty well.

Maria and I are both life-long cuddlers; it was dozy and fun to be curled up together, sharing our warmth. We both slept well. We kept saying it was like camp. The animals were all tucked into the Pole Barn, out of the wind and dry.

There was some freezing in the septic line, which leads to the kitchen and the bathroom – many gurgling sounds –  but we turned the faucets on to warm, and that seemed to clear out the problem – if those pipes had frozen, it would have been quite a mess.

Up here, it is pretty much impossible to get a plumber who can or will come quickly; going to a motel would be easier if we got desperate. The weather is like chess; it makes a move; you make a move.

But we got through the night. This night, it’s expected to be even colder.

I went outside this morning to get the mail and check on the animals, and after six or seven minutes, I had to go back and warm my hands.

My frostbite fingers hurt like Hell in this kind of weather. I also went to the post office to check the mail and let the car warm up.

The animals are fine, standing still out in the sun to soak up some warmth.

The cold will continue tonight and into tomorrow when the much-hyped Winter Storm Izzy arrives Sunday night into Monday.

The water channels are going into storm hysteria, which means nothing. We could get three inches or 20.

I have to get gas for the new generator, and we have to get the barn and the animals ready for heavy snow and more extreme cold.

It’s exciting to get ready for a storm, especially during Covid peaks. With the generator, we are now prepared for anything. We have plenty of food, firewood, boots, a snowblower,  sand, and shovels.

We’re ready. Every time I look at my snow-covered raised garden beds, I start counting down the days to Spring. My gut feeling is that Izzy Storm will be somewhat less than predicted. We’ll see.

Expect the worse, and you will never be disappointed.