The weather across the nation is down right cold. I awoke this morning and crawled out from under my warm electric blanket to freezing cold floors and howling winter winds outside. The fire had long since died out in the fireplace and left me wishing we had a wood stove instead. Definitely a day for warm clothes so on went my thick canvas pants and my plaid shirt (after a slight warming in the dryer) and a fresh fire to warm the house.

Over breakfast I looked at the temperature outside and the thermometer read 18 degrees. Chilly for sure but no where near as cold as I am used to this time of year. So I decided to look what was it at home anyways…oh -3 degrees…wow I ain’t gonna complain about my 18 then. But none the less it was still cold here. As I sat there eating my buttered sourdough bread and wishing the fireplace would hurry up and heat the house a video I had seen the day before popped into my head (shared below).

We live in an old home…built in 1918 to be exact and aside from the plaster (which I am sure has asbestos) there is no exterior insulation. We have new double pane windows an most of the doors are newer but there is still a draft. As the wind howled you could feel the cold air pushing its way under the french patio doors and the trash bag covered dining room window (because the massive window AC is bolted to the house on that window) and I begun to think about those that had even more issues with the cold.

Across this country there are people cold this very night. In cities and in the country there are people in uninsulated homes/trailers or no homes at all. Countless homeless are on the cold streets this night and others have the hard decision to make to eat or heat their home. As heating costs have skyrocketed over the years more and more are having to make this decision. It was then I said a short prayer for those in need and a thanksgiving for what I had then left to go to work. As the day went on and I saw the masses of people bundled up in the libraries in which I work I couldn’t help but wonder….how many of them are hiding from the cold in one of the few places they can. Help someone if you can or at the very least say a prayer for those freezing tonight.