a glamping staycation

i'm not going to pretend that our week without heat gave me insight into anything but first-world living with very mild, short-term discomfort.  but this is what i did learn, for what it's worth:
1.  layers of clothing really do work to provide human insulation;
2.  however, velour pants (see #6 in link) will give you a wedgie when you sleep in them.
3.  i am spoiled by having multiple rooms in which to do my living;
4.  i felt stunned, trapped, and kind of just shut down when that narrowed to one heated room (thank you, old space heater).


the coldest the house got was about 55 degrees, which was fairly manageable with our winter coats, hot water bottles, and little space heater.  (&, truth be told, our upstairs unit was still working - so we always had that option.)  what just surprised me about myself was how quickly i reverted to accomplishing only the essentials and otherwise installing myself in the warm den for hours on end - a room i don't usually spend a lot of time in.  i'd have to get myself really motivated to, say, walk to my desk and find a stamp - or some other brief but necessary journey.  (yes, stamps are still necessary in my life, and i still find it weird that you don't lick them.)

so, given the JOY and hedonistic comfort that blossomed as the house's temperature increased, i approached the new HVAC unit with quite a bit of reverence, camera in-hand.

the beautiful fan

close-up...so silvery!

i realized, attempting to take photographs that really captured the essence of the HVAC unit, that i, mainly, had no idea what i was looking at.  & this really made it challenging to do what i set out to do.  the fan, yes.  i know, in a very broad way, what that does.  but....this other stuff?  absolutely.no.idea.  lots of shiny metal, ventilated parts, gray hoses....aren't they beautiful?

another view of the fan & some shiny metal

zooming in to better appreciate the fan-like attributes

so, we are happy campers.  i use that term loosely.