...And I in My Cap
Meteorology and the logistics of our long yesterday conspired to make last night the coldest indoor sleeping we've been exposed to since last winter--or maybe since the winter before that. This wild fluctuation in our thermal comfort zone is the downside of wood heat when you're not home to tend the fires.
As the only body part not covered by four blankets, my head gets cold when it's fifty-something overnight. It brings to mind nights under the stars in a tent on the cold ground. Pulling the covers over my face brings on dreams of suffocating confinement in small places. There has got to be a better way. I'm sure I am not alone in this wish for a warm noggin in the wee hours of a cold night.
So you'd think the catologs would be full of night-time headgear--and perhaps they are. But even if there was an entire website devoted to sleepware for the manly head, I am too cheap to spend money for such. And besides, how are you supposed to keep one of those long-pointy tassled nightcaps in place as you toss and turn and dream of evil-icy fingers poking at your ears?
Pragmatist that I am, I think Ma has the better idea when she settles down for a long winter's nap: a kerchief. Tied under the neck. Swaddles the tender earpans, stays in place with a simple square knot. There you have it. I have a soft scarf in a masculine heather brown (although a camo-pattern would be even better) that will go in the drawer right next to my silk long johns. So tonight, my ears will sleep snuggily under fleece. And forget it: this is not a fashion statement and there will not be a picture of me modeling my winter headgear. Ever. Probably.
Comments
I end up pulling the covers over my head and wrapping them around my face so that I have "breathing room."
Posted by: Jane | January 19, 2005 10:20 AM
NO. Can't use that method. I'd end up with whiplash when Someone suddenly jerks the covers hard west while my little face hole is pointing due east. Be like wringing the head off a chicken--an ignoble ending. Not that I deserve a noble one.
Posted by: fred1st | January 19, 2005 10:27 AM
AW, COME ON FRED. GIVE US A SNAPSHOT OF YOU AND YOUR NIGHTTIME HEAD GEAR...........SILK? THAT SOUNDS COLD FOR WINTER.......RIGHT NOW, IT IS SNOWING HERE IN GREENSBORO, NC.
KEEP THOSE FIRES STOKED. SEE YA.
MARK
Posted by: MARK WHITTED | January 19, 2005 11:26 AM
Wouldn't a regular toboggan do the trick? I mean, you're going to get used to that scarf and start walking around in it. Next thing you know, you're at the store...
Posted by: Scott Chaffin | January 19, 2005 11:38 AM
I never met the toboggan that didn't make my head feel like it was featured in the "trash compacter scene" from the first (?) star wars movie, and especially so at night!
I mostly wear an ear-band with a hood for cold-outdoors wear. I feel geeky enough in the ear-band (for which I'm sure there must be a more glamorous name.) Yeah, I'd hate to forget and walk out to meet the mailman with my camo-green scarf wrapped my head. But then, he's already seen me in some pretty amazing get-ups.
And I'm sorry, Mark. A few years ago when I photographed my glow-in-the-dark Joe Boxers and posted this to Fragments, I thereafter swore off pictures of me in any kind of dress. Er, clothing. No, I mean....
Posted by: fred1st | January 19, 2005 12:00 PM
Fred, wear that red/black plaid cap with the ear flaps that all the girls love and that we *know* you wear secretly when you're cutting wood and no one is around.
Or is that a *toboggan*? BOTH my dictionaries say toboggan is a sled, not a cap. A little Alabama dialect there? :)
Posted by: Tom Montag | January 19, 2005 2:07 PM
take a look on-line at www.wintersilks.com/mens/outerwear. There's a balaclava that would do the trick, I'll bet - and it's on sale! Not sure if there are sizes to minimize that squeezed feeling. Boy, won't the hat hair be magnificent?
Posted by: Lisa NC | January 19, 2005 3:20 PM
many years ago my daughter gave me a knitted woolen nightcap because of the same problem.. I wore it out thru the winters.. the important thing is to be able to tie it under your chin so it does slide off yer noggin.. a hooded sleeping bag works also, that is if you happen to find yourself without a bunkmate.
Posted by: bill | January 19, 2005 7:38 PM
Stay warm, however you can, Fred.
I used stocking cap ski gear on the coldest nights last year and it was a lifesaver. Covering one's extremities makes a tremendous difference in sleeping comfort on frosty nights. Try wearing warm sock and a cap, and you will sleep through the coldest night.
It's a good thing we only have a few months to go... :)
Posted by: David St Lawrence | January 20, 2005 6:00 AM
Oh PLEEEEEEEASE show us a picture!
Posted by: Molly | January 20, 2005 8:39 AM
I guess you have a thrasher bedmate, eh? I must admit that the scenario made me chuckle, though.
Posted by: Jane | January 21, 2005 10:05 AM
CHICKEN!
Posted by: Marie | January 21, 2005 7:04 PM
In Kentucky it was a Toboggie I wore.
Posted by: Mason Dixon | January 21, 2005 8:48 PM