Tiny House Blizzard

This is my second winter in the Tiny House. I moved in in October 2022.

As a kid I always loved the Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wider and the series about the Little family. I was destined to live small. As an adult I lived in a single room occupancy in Chicago at the mission where I served for almost 40 years. So, yeah, I’m used to living in one compact space.

Winter in a Tiny House can be cozy. On the counter I have an electric kettle and a tea caddy. On a shelf above hot chocolate; mugs hang below on hooks. On my upholstered bench are blankets rolled up and there is a wool throw on the back of the rocker. My mini split keeps the place relatively warm—especially my loft bed. At night I’m used to turning down the heat because it can actually get too warm and stuffy up there.

The only problem is the ceramic tile floor. Great for keeping the place cool in summer, but holds the cold in the winter. Also not quite sure how insulated the structure is. That being said, it is -2 outside right now.

My writing desk is by the French doors that are fairly snug in the casing—but when doing stretches in the morning I can see cracks where the air gets in. I’m pretty sure in the corners the internal temps are in the low to mid 50s. Definitely a long underwear day.

This Arctic blast will be a real test for the system.

Outside snow banks the house and there are piles where we cleared the deck and tossed shovel’s full to the side. The storm started as rain, then wet snow that stuck like fly paper to the bottom of my shoes. Then during the night it got colder and yesterday the snow was more like Styrofoam squeaking beneath our footsteps. The forecast was for 8 – 12 inches of snow. But we have stayed on the low side. Icicles hang from the eaves of rooftops. Another bad sign that things are not super airtight.

Still, I’m happy to be here in my Tiny House. And, to be honest, my room in Chicago in the decrepit 100-year-old former hotel was also very cold. Radiator heat was intermittent and very local—like the spot around the radiator. Hot water for a shower was non-existent. Here I can pretend to be Mary and Laura, Pa and Ma making a go of it on the prairie, in the big woods, on Silver Lake, The family dressing around the stove, making hay bundles during the long winter, hoping for the Christmas barrel to arrive. Or, at least, run over to my daughter’s to warm up under blankets and watch HBO.