Taking the chill off

When I was a child I remember standing in the kitchen between the stove and the chimney. Between these two objects was a hot-air register, where warmth came from the heater (coal or oil depending on the year) in the basement. When we had coal heat it was a constant flow. When we had oil heat, the heat was regulated with a thermostat, so there wasn't that constant flow of warm air rising to heat the house. It came in bursts. When the air around the thermostat got cold enough, it would trip the doo-hickey, and the furnace would turn on, and then we'd have hot air. But then, I suppose you all know how a furnace/thermostat combo works.

Anyway, the warmest place in the house was near a register. There was one in the dining room/living room wall -- yes it came out on both sides of the wall. There was one in the bathroom opposite the tub. The bathroom being a not-so-large room, was always warm as long as the door was closed. There was another one in my brothers' room, on the floor behind the door that went into the room. The one in my attic room was in the chimney near my sister's and my bed, and the one in my parents' room was on the floor, again behind the door to the room.

The warmest place, however, was in the kitchen, and I would just stand there and let that warm air flow around my legs, or up under my skirt, which would send it billowing outward, but the warmth was what I was after. I would just stand there and watch my mother prepare dinner or watch her bake, or whatever she happened to be doing in the kitchen. I loved that corner of the kitchen.

Today my office here in Northern Kentucky is quite cold. It just doesn't heat up above 65 when the outside temperature falls below 30 degrees. The rest of the home is up at 68, but my office/my sister's room is over the garage which isn't heated and the floor, even though it is carpeted, it cold, Since the register is in the ceiling, the cold air stays at the floor and the hot air which is already high up in the room never gets down to ground level. Stupid design, if you ask me, but the builder didn't, so it's cold in this room -- right now it's hovering around 58 degrees.

I suppose I could hitch up the little portable heater I bought for the sun porch and warm this room up, but then I'd have to find a plug that isn't being occupied with a lamp, a computer, a printer, a scanner, a telephone, or a clock radio. You get my drift. Or I could pray for a hot flash. Nah!

I'll just stay cold for a couple of days and remember the warmth of the kitchen in Runnemede in my youth.