Shortest Shower and Fastest Walk

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Due to extremely cold weather, our power company had sporadic blackouts lasting a few seconds. I was not concerned, because I knew we always had hot water when the power was out. Lathering my hair with shampoo on Christmas Eve, I ignored the shower light that went out and came right back on. Yow!! The water from the tank-less water heater immediately became cold. COLD!! I wasted one second deciding whether or not to step out. I stayed and rinsed off the shampoo. It’s not quite as bad as you might think, because I am now in the habit of standing under cold water for a moment at the end of every shower. I can stand more cold water than I ever dreamed of! When my brain got over the cold water shock, I realized we have hot water only when the generator kicks in during a power outage. Lesson learned. There is no photo, because my hair was plastered to my head and did not stand completely on end.

On the day after Christmas, I was determined to walk to make up for staying inside for a few days. Besides, I had eaten an unseemly amount. It was 9F ( -12.7C). I would have been fine if I hadn’t taken four short videos of the two little streams that run under the road. Below is one frame from each video, showing streams running under ice.

I shoved the camera back in my pocket and pulled my bare hands back into the sleeves of the coat. I chose to walk as fast as I could to warm the hands, rather than admit defeat and slink home. Back at my street, I was quite warm and stopped to talk to Frankie and her visiting daughter as they walked their dogs. Even with that stop, the house felt overheated. I am between cooling off and shivering now.

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

Published

65 thoughts on “Shortest Shower and Fastest Walk”

  2. I know the feeling of freezing, then becoming warm, then shivering again. Some days get hot enough for shorts, but by the time you change, the sun dips behind the peak and it’s cold again, so back to jackets! It’s a miracle we haven’t caught a cold yet!

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  6. There’s nothing so nice as getting warmed up after a cold experience like that!! Here’s to the grid keeping up with the demands of the weather. Where are all of those global warming experts now?

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      1. I’m serious. I was making fun of global warming. Now they call it climate change. That’s a better phrase because climate does change with the seasons. Climate has been cyclical since the beginning of time. God is in charge. Not man and definitely not Al Gore.

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        1. I began ending showers with cold water in the summer — a good time to start in my opinion. When the weather was cold, I found the blast made the air seem not so cool. I took my time getting dressed, because I felt insulated. Don’t know how long that lasts, but so far I’ve not gotten chilled while dressing.

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  8. I heard that some states were doing rolling blackouts because of excessive power usage. we have had that here. It sure would be nice if they would let you know when they were going to occur so you could plan things like showers around them.

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  10. Your shower experience reminded me of the summer I spent in the Philippines. There was always a bucket of water in the shower so one could get shampoo out if a brown-out occurred while showering. Maybe you should have kept warm water there…. Super inspired by your intrepid advance into the outdoors even knowing the temps. Just wow. I bow to you.

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  12. You are much braver than I when it comes to cold showers. I want the water to be warm when I step in. Still haven’t decided if mid-morning or lte evening is the best time to shower. I moved downstairs to the first floor, which has forced air heat and try to keep the bedroom and bathroom upstairs set a little below 65, except for showers. Happy Second Day of Christmas! Michele

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    1. My showers are lukewarm until I’m ready for a blast of cold. Actually, I try not to think about it until I move the handle.

      Second day of Christmas. We’re still listening to Christmas CDs. I found four or five in John’s collection that are for Epiphany. We’ll hold them for January 6, and that is NOT a political statement.

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  13. I always cold water Shower early morning. It’s healthy. You are much beaver the it’s comes. to cold Shower.
    Happy Second Day of Christmas!
    God bless you.

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  16. A cold plunge after a warm shower is a good stimulant for the immune system. I try to continue this habit as it closes up the skin’s pores after they have been opened up and flushed clean.

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  17. Anne, we got messages from Duke Power for three days of Christmas weekend to turn everything off we weren’t using…and down low if we were, so the power wouldn’t go out for everybody! Then we received a message thanking us! Is this the new normal?
    The Scandinavians love their ice plunges and saunas and seem to have better health because of it. Hubby received a gift card for a new business called the “Ice Box” where you have cold treatments and/or hot treatments. It is used by athletes for quicker recoveries after surgeries. After he goes and gives it a try, I might give it a go as well! Happy New Year! Cady

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    1. We didn’t get messages from our co-op to turn electrical things down or off. I wish we had, because maybe we would have avoided the brief power cuts.

      I hadn’t thought about the Scandinavians and their saunas. They seem like very hardy people.

      My daughter lives in Copenhagen, and she had a party in a boat filled with warm water. The guests took turns swimming in the harbor and getting back in the boat to get warm. The photos seemed to prove they were having a good time.

      Happy New Year!

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  18. Well that is a miserably cold situation isn’t it? You were a trouper with your walk. I heard on the news earlier about Ashville’s problems today due to the storm. Did it affect your church? We had the water main break a week ago Saturday and the weather was not even cold then. I noticed there was hardly any water pressure, so hopped on our City’s Facebook forum and saw the pictures and comments. I got a bucket of water, then it was fine, dumped the bucket and next day the problem was back. I walked yesterday/today, but today was a little slippery and 20 mph winds from the north. Let’s return to Summer.

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    1. Our church had no problem with water on Sunday. I wasn’t aware that Asheville had more problems than we did. There is no arguing with wind. It can make any situation much worse.

      As to walking in cold weather, I’d much rather walk when it’s too cold than too hot. Keep on hoping for summer, and eventually you’ll get your wish.

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      1. I wonder what they were talking about on the news then. I just Googled for a story and couldn’t find it … well that’s good news then. The wind is brutal sometimes and luckily the only issue I had from last week’s siege was that sign on the lamp post … the pipe cleaners work for now. I’d rather walk in cold too – it is invigorating. That said, I went out this morning. I thought it would be good as the street seemed clear but I went down the driveway and walked to the cross-street and saw there were slick patches and black ice, so I went home. I can’t take my car as it has a leak and will be going for service next Tuesday. We are having a rainy long holiday weekend.

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          1. Well at least rain will be safer than last weekend’s weather – that is a blessing. What happened in Buffalo is just terrible. I hope Nathaniel’s dad made it safely back to New York.

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              1. That’s good – yes, you didn’t have to worry too much. I wondered if he would have just stayed in Charlotte rather than risk traveling, but I’m a Nervous Nellie about Winter driving and he’s likely used to a lot of snow.

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                    2. Me neither. A woman in Buffalo did a Face-time with her family describing how cold and scared she was and she actually perished later. Her family, not from that area, had no idea of the extent of the storm.

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                    4. Yes, the article said the family was shocked. (But odd, they had not heard about the Buffalo storm, but I guess if people were all wrapped up in getting ready for Christmas maybe they were unaware.)

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