I’m sure everyone in the country has a cold-weather adventure story from earlier this week. Here’s ours: when we went to bed, it was minus 17 degrees at our house, according to my temperature-reporting watch:
It actually hit minus 18 (for the record) around midnight. We woke up to frozen pipes in our kitchen because the kitchen was built with a 3-foot overhang, Now what to do? I hoped the sun might warm things up, but it only got to 25 degrees on Monday.
At 4p, I took the dog out and encountered our neighbor John walking his two little dogs. While the dogs were visiting I mentioned my frozen pipe issue. John replied:
No problem. I have a portable propane heater. When we get back to the house, I’ll pick it up and come over.
I didn’t even know there were portable propane heaters! John uses it for his hunting trips. Anyway, it took less than half an hour to set it up and thaw the pipes. John just sat on the ground under the overhang and waited while I kept checking the flow. First the hot, then the cold, done.
Bless you, John. And thank you, Lord, for grace and good neighbors.
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” (Luke 10.36, 37, NIV)
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! (Psalm 100.4, ESV)
We open the under sink cabinets (exterior walls) before bed and otherwise if cold persists.
We have a new puppy (Std.Poodle) which creates issues with toxics stored down there.
Sophie is weird; she likes to curl up on the cold floor where we have an overhang–good fur I guess.
Understand. For us, opening the under-sink cabinets worked down to minus 10. It didn’t work for minus 18! This summer, I’ll get my handyman to put in some more insulation and also install some heated tape we can activate in the winter. Have fun with Sophie!