Dexter Iowa Community Site

Consider this quote from Abe Lincoln

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

      As most of my regular readers know, I heat my house with a corn furnace. I am thankful for both the warmer weather this winter and for the fact that I can burn wood pellets instead of corn as the cost of corn is out of this world. It is a good source of heat, both pellets and corn, and keeps my house nice and warm while I thumb my nose at the gas company.

      I woke up this morning to a cold house though. From time to time the auger that feeds the burn pot clogs from the loose sawdust or just because it wants to remind me that I have to keep an eye on it and spend a little more time cleaning, not just adding bags of pellets to the hopper.

      As I sat drinking a tall glass of cold orange juice I strolled into the living room to look at the thermostat and noticed that it was 51 degrees in the house. My feet were cold and I was thankful that Bob the fish had died a few weeks ago and wasn’t swimming around his tank wearing ear muffs as I made the walk to the basement to determine what the problem had been this time.

      It didn’t take long to determine the problem, find a solution and make a repair, bringing the furnace back to life and pumping heat back into the house. I waited while the house was warming up, by folding laundry, doing dishes and sweeping the kitchen floor while thinking to myself that not only was I creating body heat to keep warm, but I was also burning calories.

      And then it struck me. Fifty-one wasn’t really as cold as I thought it was. I certainly hope my refrigerator is colder than 51 degrees. If it were 51 degrees outside right now I would probably be running around in short sleeves without a coat on. Really the more I kept moving and active I found that 51 wasn’t all that uncomfortable.

      I call these little episodes “pioneering”. I know that for most of us who have family that grew up in the days before gas furnaces a cold chilly morning in the house wasn’t anything to be afraid of. I’ve read stories of farm houses in the early part of the 20^th century that were “insulated” with old newspapers or mud to try to keep the chill out of the air. People bundled up, put on an extra pair of socks, baked a cake and kept warm by moving about their day doing chores and the work that needed done around the house.

      Maybe it’s good for me to have the furnace go out from time to time to remind me just how easy it is to turn my thermostat down a few extra degrees from time to time, and to not be afraid of throwing on another layer of clothing. I’m an Iowan after all, and we are known for our ability to suffer through and make the best of a harsh Iowa winter like this one has been. It is bred into us by our hardy ancestors who were able to make it through the winters and we don’t have to worry about the stray mountain lion or Native American coming through our door in the middle of the night to eat us.

      Yeah, I’ve decided that I’m just about as tough as old Davy Crocket when it comes to my ability to “rough it” this winter. I’m saving a ton of money by letting my furnace stop from time to time and it’s giving me time to concentrate on doing much needed house work. I’m tough and a manly man.

      But if you would excuse me, the house is now a balmy seventy-one and I feel the need to strip down to my shorts and t-shirt and take a nap on the couch…. it’s like Rio in the summer time in here.

See you next week…Remember, we’re all in this together.