16 Feb 2011
Everything is so cold! The water is cold when I wash my hands. The soap is cold. The floor is cold, beverages at room temperature are cold. We have really numbed ourselves from reality in the modern world, now unused to any discomfort at all. For all but a sliver of modern history, people were ecstatic to have access to a fire for warmth. Why does it seem such a sacrifice to me today? Although there is absolutely no heating in my room*, there is a lovely fireplace in the kitchen and a handy lighter to light it…cavemen would have been envious! This complaint comes as I sit in Southern Italy, hardly the Tibetan plateau or Alaskan tundra. Spoiled, spoiled, spoiled.
*I sleep every night with a brick that has been heated in the fire. Usually the mother Donatella wrapped it in fabric for me and sent me off to bed, but once I had to do it myself. I stuck it in the inside pocket of my coat and went off to brush my teeth. I got to my room, unzipped my coat, and a cloud of smoke puffed up into my face. Apparently Donatella carefully made sure the brick cooled off before she wrapped it. I’ll have to find a way to fix that hole in my coat when I get back home…
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