As all good things eventually do, our perfect climate has changed: it's cold in San Miguel! When I was stationed in Bavaria it snowed in time for Hallowe'en, and that hasn't happened yet. Dia de Los Muertos was cool but comfy.
For the past few days it has been chilly. Our cement houses retain heat from the daytime and coolness from evening hours to even out the temperatures for us. Unfortunately, we've only had coolness as of late. Barely warming to the low 70s during the day, it has fallen into the low 30s at night. It's 2 am right now and the temperature is about 36 degrees with cooler temperatures promised before sunrise. It may be darkest before the dawn; it sure is cooler, too. [These temperatures are in Fahrenheit; it's even more exciting to see them in Centigrade!]
Highs in only the low seventies doesn't do it when it's so cold at night. When your homes have cement/tile walls, floors, and ceilings, they don't have a chance to warm up enough during the day to temper the evening hours. Our home office, which has both its ceiling and western wall exposed to the sun, usually requires the use of a ceiling fan. Today it required the use of a heater.
We wore our robes and jammies and whatever we thought would keep us warm around the house. [Why didn't I order those comfy slippers last week?] Once dressed (Pedro was coming to refit some electrical things around the house) it was time for layers. Going out for dinner required both layers and jackets to keep warm on our 1250-step walk to the restaurant. We had been told to expect cool weather in January/February; this caught us by surprise.
We did haul out the electric radiator (we don't have the gas version) and it followed us around from inhabited room to room. We are planning on picking up a second heater from a local store so that we can make at least two floors comfortable. The heaters are a bit too heavy to haul up and down the stairs with grace, and aren't particularly pricey. We don't need one for the first floor as we seldom use the first floor's living room.
Can't wait to see our bimonthly electricity bill. At least the electric, oil-filled radiators require only throwing a switch to have them functioning. We had enough fun relighting the pilot on the gas water heater after our recent vacation.
Our second line of defense is the low-voltage warming mattress pads on all the beds. They provide a subtle heat that gently warms you through. We finally turned them on this week. [The pads have been on the beds all the time; they are plush-topped and rather comfy year around.] Topped with a fluffy duvet, it's heaven. But one can't stay in bed all the time....
Fortunately the weather should take a turn for the warmer later this week (highs in the 80s and lows in only the 40s) when we have guests arriving from the US. Checking their local weather forecast, it seems it's to be rain and chill there today. At least it's still dry here and an 80/40 split should warm us up again.
Perhaps we'll be able to maintain our 'perfect climate' reputation after all.
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