Ode to the January Electric Bill
The first thing to consider about your January electric bill is that it is in fact for December. December when winter in the high country hits with a vengeance. Typically we have about a dozen days with no sun (nix passive solar) and below zero nights and gale force winds blowing snow. I have never understood how the winter solstice can be the beginning of winter. It seems more like the middle. It is definitely the darkest. And we are totally unprepared for it. Oh sure you have stocked up on firewood but you are out of practice bringing it in before the snow storm. And after days when you went barefoot in your house and sat on the deck to bask out of the wind in the sun during the mid day nothing in your body is prepared for the cold. I am definitely in denial. During the first week or so of cold I turn the heat higher than usual, switch on all the lights to minimize the dark, and cook too much warm comforting meals. The second thing to consider about your January electric bill...