Cold Temperatures, Cabin Fever

We have now lived through sub-zero temperatures. There have been two arctic cold fronts that have come through and produced temperatures lower than -10 degrees F. This latest one, which just ended last night, came with a northerly wind that produced wind chills of -40 degrees F. Along with the cold temperatures came some additional consequences that were not pleasant.

During the first cold snap, we experienced true cabin fever. Given that there isn't a mall or other similar indoor activity in the immediate vicinity, we are generally stuck at the house. The movie theater is small and only occasionally runs kids' movies. We can only play with legos for so long. My kids have watched WAY too much television during the past couple months. They run up and down the hallway almost every night. This particular weekend, I decided that we needed to get OUT, so I bundled everyone up and we went to the park. It was 1 degree above zero. We didn't stay out long. 

Also during that cold snap we managed to lose power. It went off right at dinnertime and came back on at 8:15 for 45 minutes. This was long enough to warm the house back up, thankfully. The power didn't return until about 4 am. The house cooled down to about 54 degrees that night. Not horrible, but still not good. But, we all have heavy comforters and warm pj's, so we survived.

This latest cold snap has not been much better. My DD has been miserable - she usually goes outside for recess, but they wouldn't allow them outside for the past two days since the wind chills were so dangerous. Hopefully they'll let them outside today since the temperature has returned to 20 degrees F. 

The house, however, was apparently not properly prepared for these cold temperatures: our pipes have frozen. We think it is actually the pipe leading from the street to the trailer. Fortunately, the person we rent the land from is in construction, so he is out there installing new pipes for us right now. We have been without running water for about 28 hours now. I am not happy.  I am trying to stay positive: we do have drinking water, and we have some water to flush the toilets. If we can't repair it soon I will be going down the street to see if the hotel has a room for tonight. 

I cannot imagine how the real pioneers did this 100 years ago! How did they build fires? There are no trees here. I am guessing they used dried buffalo or cow chips. (Yuck!) There must have been quite a number of deaths due to the freezing weather. And how did the Native Americans survive? I don't know if I would have been able to do it. 

I am having trouble surviving without a Target. 

--Katie