Fleeting

It's been cloudy and raining for a week.  This time of year I usually have the air conditioner running, but I'm closing windows because fresh air is making it a little too cool in the house.  It's great sleeping weather though.

This morning while blow-drying my hair, I slipped the blow-dryer under my t-shirt at my waist.  A move I typically do on winter mornings.  I moved it from front to back several times and warmed my torso.  It's important to maintain a perfect pace so the skin stays warm but doesn't burn—something that happens when the dryer gets too close to my skin and stays in the same place for a second too long.  The warmth never lasts.  When I remove the dryer, I'm chilled again—even more so.  Always.  But I can't resist the easy warmth, even if it's fleeting.

When I was a little girl I wore long, flannel nightgowns during winter months.  Floor registers delivered our heat and when the heat kicked on, I stood over the nearest register so my nightgown filled with warm air.  It was wonderful.  My parents allowed me a few moments of uninterrupted warming, but then reminded me that the heat wasn't getting to the rest of the room.  My brother begged for a turn, but I convinced him it was wasted on his body because his pajamas didn't billow with proof of contained and appreciated heat.

When I stepped off the floor register, the heat seemed to instantly dissipate, taking with it any of my own body's warmth.  I was always worse off—colder—than before I stepped on the floor register.  Always.  But I could never resist the easy warmth, even though it was fleeting.

Comments

[tysdaddy]

My wife grew up in a home with one register, one that blew hot air up from the wood burning stove in the basement. It was nothing to stumble downstairs during my visits to find one of her siblings sleeping on the register. They'd wake with red marks on their skin from the hot metal. The rest of the house was cold as you'd expect in Minnesota, but those fleeting moments of heat were something . . .

[Jannie Funster]

Having spent my first 26 years in Canada, trying to get warm was sport we loved so very well. Even in summer, sometimes.

(When I first glimpsed your pic here I thought you were drying your armpit!)

[Cheri @ Blog This Mom!]

It is that way for me with Thin Mints.

XOXO

[Chris]

Brian - That's a cool story. I remember burning myself on an old cast iron radiator in Winchester, Indiana when I was little. It literally branded my arm.

Jannie - I almost didn't include the silly photo. When I tried to take a picture of myself with the blow dryer under my shirt, it looked too weird. I didn't even think about how it looked pointing towards my armpit. I was trying to avoid it looking phallic. I probably didn't need a picture.

I've never been to Canada... or Minnesota.

[Chris]

Cheri - I'm not a Thin Mint fan, but M&Ms, wine, Taco Bell Mild Sauce... I have lots of fleetingly good, was it worth it moments. :-)

[Jennifer H]

I use my hair dryer the same way, except on the cold setting. ;-)

Guess I'd better starting getting used to the other way?

[Tristan]

I am with you. I love a cold room when I sleep under a couple of thick quilts. I've been leaving all the windows closed except for mine. And I did the same thing with the heat vent when I was younger. I'll have to give the hair dryer a try!

[Chris]

Jennifer - I understand! And, yes. You might be standing on floor registers soon.

Tristan - Try it, you'll like it! I am freezing today. It has been raining like crazy.

[Connie @ Young and Relentless]

I like to point mine into my pants.....

[Mulva]

Oh, memories. Growing up relatively impoverished (in Iowa), we lived in a big, old house that was very drafty. 6 kids - we fought over the air vents. On really cold mornings my mom would turn on the oven in the kitchen and open the door to help warm up the room before breakfast.

When she couldn't stand us kids for one more second, she would send us out to play in the kind of humid wet that would freeze your snotty little nose to your scarf - now there's an icky memory for you...and she would be indoors trying to catch up on laundry (because she had a full time job working nights in a hospital and 6 kids to care for all day) and we would huddle around the dryer vent outdoors trying to stay warm.

Nowadays (at 50), I have the opposite problem. It takes me ages to stop sweating after a warm shower, even in the winter. Has added about 10-15 minutes to my "get ready" time...can't put on my makeup or get dressed until my body regulates...oh, the joys of perimenopause : 0 A kind Waterford mom suggested I place a fan near the area where I primp and dress - says it worked for her during a difficult year or two.

The photo is hilarious - definitely added to the post.

[Chris]

Connie - I do that sometimes too. ;-)

Mulva - I just love your comments. I enjoy learning more about you. Your mother sounds like a Saint... humbling.

I think I'll tuck the bit of advice the "kind Waterford mom" shared with you away in my bonnet. A fan for perimenopause moments. Excellent idea, and I actually already have those moments. I think I shared with you that my maternal Grandmother went through menopause at 38 [so she said, but she drank a little... God rest her soul.]

Thanks for supporting the dumbass photo. Duh.

[Middle-Aged-Woman]

If you had a layer of body fat that's as...insulating...as mine, you'd be fine!

I'm not havin' a good couple of days, Chrisy.

Love,

Claire

[Bobbi Olson]

I do that too! Warm air in the winter, cool air in the summer!

[Mrs. D]

I always did that when I was a kid, too, on our living room heat vent. It was great. I have a picture of my little brother doing it, too. His hair blowing up in the air is what gives him away. There's no way on Earth I'd do that nowadays, as I am the hottest natured person EVER now. I wish you'd send that cool weather here!! I'd love it.

[mary]

My little Margot does that now -stands over the heating vent in her nightie. She is like a miniature Marilyn Monroe!!

[Lady Fi]

I've never thought of warming myself with a hairdryer - although I have used it to warm my son's hands and toes - on the cool setting.

[christy]

I do that too with my hair dryer. What a nice memory of your childhood too.

p.s. I'm a thin mint girl. And taco bell, and m&ms, and wine. Oh my.

[michael.offworld]

Awesome post. I suspect there is more to it than a tale of passing warmth. Bitter sweet. The passage of time (youth) maybe? I may be imposing my own bias.

[Kate Coveny Hood]

I do that now! We have floor registers and I stand over them in the winter to warm my feet. I also love blow drying my hair in the winter - it's necessary after leaving the hot shower. I'm pretty cold blooded - so I relate to anything that involves seeking heat.

[vodkamom]

i like to be cold.



lovely post.....

[Alixandra Hice]

Just wait til menopause. You will throw every hair dyer out in the trash. And flannel nighties? Fuggeddaboudit!

[The Demigod]

Hmmm. This may be our one difference. I've never liked heat except when I am trying to get my tan on. I've always loved the chilliness, I never seem to get enough of it. I used to try to sneak out of the house wearing full winter gear minus the pants, just a pair of shorts. LOL.

(Also in other distasteful thoughts: "Fleeting" in my world means something completely different. LOL.)

[Lance]

Ah - that reminds me of around here. It has yet to warm up very much, and that's meant the heat is still running on occassion. And it can feel so good to stand by the registers. I remember growing up - in a house that had wood heat - and standing near the blower to that - taking the warmth in - it felt so good...

You're bringing back some great memories from my childhood...

[Da Goddess]

I'm a sucker for easy warmth myself. In Colorado, I love floor vents for the very reason you mention. And I'm guilty of using the dryer to warm my chesticles. Or I used to bring the kids in close and we'd have a circle of warmth. Why not?

Fleeting is only fleeting if you forgot to turn up the furnace before that.

[Anastasia]

I can't believe that it's so cold for you at this time of the year. I hope the weather has changed into lovely warm weather.

[San Diego Momma]

I remember standing over the heater in my Chicago home and trying to trap the warmth under my nightgown, then running quick into bed to take the heat with me. :)

Now I'm in San Diego.

Whole different vibe.

[Jannie Funster]

I LOVE the picture! Wouldn't change it for anything. You are so creative with your jpegs. So Chrissy funny!

[Tara]

Oh my gosh...I can't believe someone else does the ole hair dryer trick. I'm constantly cold, so I know every trick in the book! Nice blog.Tara

[All Adither]

The heat register and the nightgown...a guilty pleasure.