Well, today was kind of a sad day. I finally had to bring out the kotatsu. For those that don't know, a kotatsu is essentially a table with a little heater under it. But some blankets underneath the table top part, and voila, you have a way to survive the winter.
What's sad about it is, I am mentally conceding to months of freezing weather. There's no going back now. From here on out, it's only going to get colder. I know I talk all the time about how cold it can get in Japanese housing, but really it's all I can think of. Having temperatures in your house being in the 40s or 30s is a really, really miserable way to spend several months of your life. Numb fingers and toes become an every fact of life, and let's not even talk about taking showers in the morning.
But the kotatsu is a life raft in a sea of cold. It can be freezing outside, but under that table and blanket, well, it might as well be Miami for those few cubic centimeters of space. So it's a necessary thing to have, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it too much.