I'm giving thanks today for something quite ordinary - central heating with a programmable thermostat. I don't suppose many of us think about it a whole lot, it's there and it's something we've had for (I hope) most of our lives. It's lovely to come in after work and feel the warmth because the thermostat has kicked on shortly before I get home.
I know that my Mum didn't grow up with central heating; her experience was more likely to have been a coal fire. When I was a child and we would go to my grandmother's or aunt's house, it would be an Arctic experience to go to the bathroom. We'd race through our morning routine and run downstairs to the dining room where the gas fire would be on (one bar usually because it was just too extravagant to have them both on) and my sister and I would huddle in front of it, thawing out. Imagine that experience but without the gas fire and that's how my Mum grew up as the coal fire was for evenings when everyone was home. Brrr. I think Dad's experience was a little better - we drove by the house where he grew up when we went to Ohio some years ago and there was a chimney but I'm not sure about the source of the heat. Chopping firewood might have been on his list of chores after school.
I'm thankful for central heating and so very grateful. We are indeed blessed to have this convenience.
I love this! We do not have central heating in our New England home. The description of your family's experience with the cold in the house is wonderful and so true of what it is like without central heating. It is such a blessing to be cozy and warm!
ReplyDeleteWhen we would visit my grandma's farm in southeast MO there was no central heat. The cook stove in the kitchen provided the heat for her home. After us grandkids were born she put in a propane furnace in the living room. Her bedroom also had a small wood burning stove. Her house was old and doubtless had many entry ways for the cold air. Although we were cold here, gathering around the stove in the kitchen to warm up while breakfast was being made is one of my fondest memories.
ReplyDeleteI am thankful for central heat/air too...as well as running water and indoor plumbing and electricity. It's easy to take all of those things for granted.
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