This is a post about life at 62. Not 62 years, 62 degrees. That's where I keep my thermostat these days. Frankly, I'd go lower if I were not worried about freezing the pipes. A lot of people are making similar efforts. Amanda Kovattana writes about her experiments with low temperature living here.

So far, I'm quite comfortable. Of course I'm wearing a big warm sweater, and I've had all winter to adjust. My friends have learned to dress warmly when they visit, and I keep plenty of hot drink options on hand. It's freezing outside, but so far, I haven't burned a single BTU. Thus I've avoided the expense and emissions associated with heating my large apartment.

Of course there are a few little inconveniences, and I solved one of them last night. If you sleep alone in a double bed in a cold room, it can be a challenge to get the bed nicely warmed and your feet good and toasty. Flannel jammies, fleece socks, leg warmers, and a hot water bottle all help, but then if you move the wrong way during the night, some piece of you has inadvertently slid into an arctic region of unoccupied bed. You withdraw, but too late; body heat has escaped and cold air has penetrated your tropical nest. And if you get up to use the facilities in the night, forget it. All that heat you cultivated is gone by the time you return.

That's what happened to me last night. And while I was huddling under the blankets, arms clutching my hot water bottle, waiting for my body to warm the lower regions of the bed, I realized that I have a lot of pillows. Seriously. Two buckwheat pillows, four standard sleeping pillows, and two more encased in shams. And most of them were just eating up real estate. So I sat up, threw back the covers, and built a pillow trench. Two pillows laid end to end on my immediate right, two on my left. Then I covered the whole arrangement with the top sheet, blanket, and duvet, and voila! A minute later I was roasting away. All the body heat stayed in the little channel I had made for myself, while the frosty currents were kept at bay. Problem solved.

Anyone else have strategies for comfy living in a cold climate, while we still have one?