CHILLIN’ IN THE CHILLBOX

365 Days of Thanksliving — Day 231

My friends, I’m exhausted tonight – just drained, spent, and all that. After not sleeping well for the last three nights — I don’t know why — the tireds have caught up with me. Guess that’s not a new thing for a Sunday. Pretty sure I’ve written about that before.

So, this afternoon, I did as I sometimes do after church: I took a sabbath rest. As I sat here like a veg watching the World Cup Finals, I kept asking the ether what I’m uniquely grateful for today. Nothing was coming to my noggin.

Like… hello? Ether, what ya got? Crickets!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for a great many things. Consider this first-world amenity, for example.

All afternoon, I’ve been chillin’ in our family room (aka “the chillbox”), which comfortably sits in the basement of the parsonage. The floor is some 7-8 feet beneath the ground, and at that depth, whether the air temp is a sultry 95 or a frigid 20 below, this room is constantly cool. I’ve often thought the storage area underneath the garage floor area could be used as a root cellar. All that to say, it’s quite comfy down here in the dregs of the house… in the summer, that is. The wintertime? Brrrr…

Now combined with the A/C, one can totally “chill” in the chillbox. While we’ve never tested how chill it might be without the A/C in the summer, because ya know, it’s Minnesota and all that, I betcha if we lost power, it’d stay nice and cool down here. Some of my friends don’t have A/C (like here in Comfrey), and I don’t know how they do it. They’re tougher than me, I’m sure.

Anywho, all this is to say, for this simple yet easy to overlook aspect of thermodynamics, I’m quite grateful. Now, adding the air conditioning into the mix ups the ante on that thanksgiving.

The irony is, sometimes I think about sleeping down here. Go up one flight to the main floor, and the temp increases by at least 5 degrees. Go up one more (to where the bedrooms reside), and up she goes another 10 at least. No amount of A/C seems to matter up there. I mean, it does, but the upper level of the parsonage is efficient at trapping in the heat.

Circling back like Jen Psaki, maybe that’s why I haven’t slept well in days. It’s been so sultry up there even the devil would be complaining. Give me a room at 55 and a heavy comforter, and this fluffy friar would be sleepin’ like a baby. Now that would be like chillin’ in a chillbox, and it would be glorious.

Anyway, that’s all I gots for tonight. I’m grateful for a cool basement where I can just veg until it’s time to zonk for the night.

What are you thankful for today?