Snow is a blessing.
I'm not saying it, but it is written in the Spanish proverb: “Year of snow, year of goods”.
So why are we so afraid of snowfalls?
Yes, I know, we panic because we are not necessarily prepared to deal with snowstorms, as the Nordic countries are.
In fact, the word "tempest" alone makes the hairs on the back of our neck stand up.
After all, we have sold an image of Spain abroad as a country of sun and beach and we have believed it.
It is not relevant, but when will we stop naming storms and hurricanes after women?
It seems like an anachronism to continue doing that today.
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As anachronistic it also seems to me that in Spain, in the XXI century, there are people who when it snows they die of cold, and unfortunately it is not a metaphor but a very sad and certain reality, and they freeze because the supply is interrupted or, even worse, because their electricity is cut off for non-payment.
There is nothing more valuable than a life and every means at hand should always be used to protect it here and in Pernambuco.
I admire from France, my country of adoption, a gesture of true brotherhood: the
trève
hivernale
(
winter
truce), which prevents tenants from being evicted from their home for non-payment as of November 1 and until the cold fades and this has been the case since 1956. The law also includes the prohibition of cutting off electricity and gas.
Once this necessary paragraph is done, I return to my business.
We could also tell ourselves another story in line with Filomena: we could tell ourselves that the snow that now hinders our communications and that, it is true, has caused major damage classified as catastrophe and even deaths, will in a few months become water that will fill our reservoirs often so deserted, and in holy water, to be more exact, because it will feed our thirsty fields.
What if the cold wasn't so bad after all?
We already talked about all this years ago in the post 5 tricks and 4 reasons not to abuse the heating.
Here are four common sense tips today, which do not reveal the Mediterranean to you, but which perhaps make you think and smile a bit.
I know people in Barcelona that if it rains they do not go out if they can avoid it
1)
Bundle up nicely
- What a platitude, right?
but it is not as so as it seems.
I know people who want to walk around the house in the middle of winter in a short-sleeved shirt and a tank dress.
When are those turtlenecks for?
To go out, they respond promptly.
And because?
Where is it written that it should be like this?
I am not going to go to the extreme of saying that one should sleep with gloves and a hat ... although by proxy one could.
However, I consider it more convenient, both for the body and for the energy consumption of the house, for people to bundle up while at home.
You have to warm the body and warm the house.
Who Said Hot Water Bottles Are Just For Kids?
It will always be cheaper and healthier to cover yourself with everything you have on hand than the easy gesture of turning up the thermostat happily to "feel good."
I again use the Spanish proverb: "Go hot and laugh people."
2)
Take advantage of the physical and human warmth
.
The house, and the people who live in it, emanate energy that can be reused.
I don't know about you, but sometimes in summer I get such a hot flush that I open the freezer for a few seconds and stick my head inside ... as far as possible.
Those seconds of frigid breathing allow me to return to the ambient sultry with some relief.
For me the freezer is to the summer what the oven to the winter.
Not only do I favor the use of the oven for cooking, but I also do it as a source of heat for the house.
My electric oven stays warm for several minutes after I turn it off.
When I no longer use it as a cooking method, I open the door to let the heat spread through the house and thus use the energy, instead of wasting it.
And I try to take advantage of human physical warmth as well.
You have to keep your distance outside, but we can hug and kiss the family in time and out of time.
If they come from the street, where it freezes, they will appreciate even more if possible the human contact, beyond the expression of affection.
3)
Consume hot (and healthy) at all hours
.
Obvious, dear Watson.
This is not a time, although some frown, for ice cream and slushies no matter how appetizing they are.
Coffees, teas, infusions and chocolates, instead of soft drinks, will help us weather the storm.
My weekly chicken broth boils in the pot for an hour and a half.
That's another time when I leave the kitchen door wide open so that the heat (and the smell) is distributed equally throughout the apartment.
It is time to program broths and stews in addition to baked dishes on the weekly menu.
For example, I cook compotes and fruit tarts that I serve warm or even hot.
Not only the stomach appreciates it but also the nose.
I love to perfume the environment with spices like cinnamon and cloves.
This good man is about to make his proposal because the environment has previously been "heated" thanks to the good work of the radiator (c) Internet Archive Book Images
4)
Accept to feel a little cool because it is not bad
.
What a heresy, right ?!
I know someone who if he doesn't have constantly boiling radiators comes to the conclusion that it is cold in his house.
Thanks to technological innovations, we have become accustomed to demanding an ideal average temperature from our surroundings.
Or rather: we have become spoiled.
In summer we do not want to suffer heat and we fight it with the air conditioners at full blast, and in winter we fight against the cold by heating up.
The (bad) weather is an interference, a nuisance that spoils our lives.
I know people in Barcelona that if it rains they do not go out if they can avoid it.
When I tell this story in France they die of laughter because here, if the same principle were applied, we would hardly ever go out of the house for much of the winter.
Heat and cold, rain and snow, in themselves, are neither bad nor good except in extreme cases.
It is fantastic that nowadays we can resort to heaters and fans when we need them, but we must use them with common sense, without exaggerating the note because that can also lead us to exaggerate the bill.
The bill that we pay at the end of the month as private consumers, but also the one that the planet pays for our excessive energy consumption.
As I explained a couple of years ago here on the blog, we have to end up accepting that we can't have it all.
