JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: The Polar Vortex! It's astonishing I hadn't even heard of such a thing until a few years ago. Now it's like the Ice Monster in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, lumbering down at some point in almost every winter, spreading fear and dismay. Can no one pull its teeth? Where's Yukon Cornelius when you need him?In my part of Maine, we've been having pretty ordinary late-January weather - daytime highs in the teens or low twenties, nights in the single digits. But that looks like a heat wave compared to what you folks in the upper midwest have been seeing. It sounds from the news reports like that scene in THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW when the wind stops and everything snap-freezes to -70F. Run! Run away from the cold!
So what, other than barricading ourselves inside a library and burning books*, do we do to cope with the cold. What are your tricks for staying warm and cozy, both physically and emotionally?When I still had the girls living here with me, we'd get our hygge on, gathering together in the living room draped in sweaters, knit socks and woolly throws and reading in front of the fireplace. Plenty of candles are a necessary component to hygge, as are warm drinks. Now it's just me I've gotten rid of the bench in our kitchen (the catch-all for years of bookbags and sporting equipment) and replaced it with a delightfully comfy arm chair. My solo keeping cozy ritual is similar to the previous one - lots of wool, reading, and hot herbal tea - but the kitchen woodstove is much better at actually warming the room than the fireplace was Without another person to keep an eye on things, I skip the candles (I can just imagine the potential chaos if the cat jumps up on the table at the wrong moment) but the down-directed lights over the kitchen table (that's right - no island for me!) have a pleasantly warm and old-fashioned glow that translates to "cozy" in my head.
Reds, what are your tricks and techniques for making it through the cold? Jenn and Rhys, I know you see chilly evenings in Arizona this time of year. And Lucy, please tell us all how delightfully warm it is in Key West, so we can add that to the mental images keeping us sane!
LUCY BURDETTE: I'm afraid to say too much Julia, for fear I'll be blackballed at JRW, but...it was 60 degrees this morning and windy. I hauled out my down vest and wool socks, not kidding! We have no fireplace or woodstove, but while watching TV with John (say, Victoria, season 3) I cover up with a cozy blanket and try to entice T-bone to join me. Yesterday, he preferred the warmth of the copier...
HALLIE EPHRON: Have you noticed they've gotten into giving ordinary weather events outsized names? Thunder snow. Bomb cyclone. Arctic vortex. It's ridiculous. Though this coming deep freeze sounds formidable. We went down in the single digits last week but this sounds MUCH worse for our friends in the midwest. Snow in Alabama??I am terrified over the pipes freezing, so one thing we do is keep the under-sink cabinet doors open and put an old-fashioned lightbulb (on) down there and keep the tap dripping. A portable space heater for when I'm working in my office (too many windows). I drink hot water and wear layers (including long underwear - Cuddleduds are the best). Scarves around my neck. My daughter bought me slippers that you heat up in the microwave. And fingerless gloves. My exercise bike gets a workout in the winter since the thing I am NOT interested in doing is going outside.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I mostly keep warm by being happy that I don't have to be out covering the storm anymore. I also obsessively keep everything charged, since I am petrified of power outages. To keep warm? I am pitiful...camisole, t-shirt, thermal shirt, fleece top, sweatpants and short uggs, neck warmer. Then I drape a blanket over my whole self, tucking it in like a big towel. Pitiful. And yes, fingerless gloves. And there's a space heater by my desk. But our old house can be so cold--we have actual cold zones (we don't name them ;-)) that we just run through yelling cold zone, cold zone! We have a treadmill and a nordic track, which I love, but it is too cold to take off all my clothes and put on little workout clothes, so forget it. 
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Speaking to you in my long underwear, huddled over the space heater in the kitchen. It seems that those of us not living in sunny climes all have drafty old houses. Fortunately we are zoned, and our upstairs is quite toasty. But, downstairs, it's space heaters everywhere, layers of very unattractive clothing, wool socks, sherpa slippers, lots of hot tea. BUT that's just workaday keeping warm. For relaxing and enjoying the hygge, we build a roaring fire in the living room fireplace and I snuggle under my yummy faux fur throw, and am usually joined by a dog or a cat. I adore this. If I'm feeling really motivated I'll light a few candles, too. (I have one from Mer-Sea called Sea Pines that is the most heavenly winter scent ever.) The cozy times almost make the rest of the keeping-warm chore worthwhile.
JENN McKINLAY: Sorry, gals, but it's been lovely in Arizona. Yes, it drops into the forties or fifties at night but that means we sleep with the windows open, which I love, love, love! This is my favorite jeans and thermal shirt, work in the yard, go for long nature walks season. Sadly, I'm on deadline so I'm not getting to do as much of that as that as I'd like. On the nights it drops into the thirties, I snuggle under the fleecy throw with King George in my lap and Otto on one side and Annie on the other. Bliss.
RHYS BOWEN: And I'm a few miles from Jenn in Arizona. I switch on the heated seats in my car if it drops below 65. I know. Such a wimp. But I really don't like cold. It does get chilly here at night but the days are lovely. Sadly I haven't been able to enjoy the desert yet. I too am on deadline, facing book launch in two weeks, and moving house!JULIA: I may need to get Hallie's slippers that can be heated up via microwave! Okay, dear readers, now it's your turn. Share your secrets for staying snug and cozy (maybe it's live in Arizona during the season like Rhys and Jenn?)
*We don't actually advocate burning books. You have to see THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW for the trapped-in-the-library-and-freezing scene. In my house, we always ask, "Why don't they break apart the library chairs and burn those? Wood lasts longer."
