Useful Winter Survival Tips

There are all kinds of articles on the web today about surviving brutally cold temperatures, and since they are full of all the usual sensible and scientific (dull) advice, I'll share my own little tips, and a few from friends, for getting through days where the high temperature is in the double digits below zero.  My friend Suzanne suggests plane tickets to Bora Bora, Jill champions denial, and Darla says get over it and get on out to Prairie Oaks Institute (prairieoaksinstitute.org/) for the potluck (which I did, and the soup and conversation were both excellent). 

Now, I lived in Fairbanks Alaska for 13 years, where there are parts of the winter when folks get pretty excited to see the temperature climb back up to -30 degrees, so I have a little experience with extreme cold.  My first tip for dealing with such cold?  Don't live in Fairbanks Alaska.  It's not nearly so extreme here in Minnesota.  Really. 

I wear shoes most of the time, but I've recently discovered the joys of slipper boots, thanks to a client who bought me my own, when I admired hers.  These things make my feet so toasty, it just radiates upward.  I'm not kidding about how much warmer I stay on slipper days. 

(Faux) Ocelot slippers, two pairs of yoga pants, and a big cup of very hot coffee are a great way to start the work day, when the cold is radiating in through the old walls of this 1906 house.  Not leaving the house to go to work is the second part of that suggestion, in case you missed it.  Self-employment sometimes has extra bennies, like when get-something-done-in-the-office days coincide with I'd-rather-face-the-mountain-of-filing-than-the-frigid-weather days. 

hot pants

If you must leave the house, layer on the leggings or long-johns under a nice toasty pair of jeans.  If putting them in the dryer involves running down to a cold basement in a turn of the century house, slipping them over a small radiator gets the job done.  Toasty! 

I think one of the nicest ways to spend an icy day is curled up with a favorite blanket and something really good to read.  If you make an all-day affair of it, a good novel, a trashy novel, and of course the winter issue of a certain bookazine would be my recommendation for a nice variety.  Hang in there, warmer temps are on the way, as is our spring issue.  Watch for both in late February or early March!

Stay cozy!

Dawn-Marie