joyful2beeblogs

It’s wintertime in our country and other parts of the world. So bear with me. I think there is a conspiracy by stores to brainwash us. Allow me to explain.

No matter how many blankets you have at home, when you enter a moderately warm store and have to thaw from the effects of the frigid, howling wind blowing against you; you can just imagine how wonderfully warm, soft and cozy one more blanket would be. Then you see racks of lush, soft, warm colorful blankets and are seized with the desire to purchase and own at least one of these multitude of fuzzy, colorful tempters.

Suddenly you realize that your mind is racing with fantasies of lying in your recliner, bed, or couch with one luxuriously soft, thick, warm covering over your full body’s length. Your pet, dog or cat, sleeping on or near you with its body warming your legs or chest. A blanket tucked in such a way that no cold air can find one inch of your body where it could induce shivering.

While gazing and considering your next move you remember all of the blankets you bought under similar circumstances in the past and try to talk yourself out of a new blanket. I don’t know about you, but the plethora of these soft, warm, coverlets make me see how meager my supply of twelve or more at home is!

What is it about soft, warm, and fuzzy blankets that makes you want more blankets; or pets, for that matter, to snuggle up beside you or keep your lap warm? Is it an association to a memory or memories from your childhood? Perhaps it’s from the genetic memory encoded on our DNA from an ancient ancestor to prepare for the icy conditions of winter that floods your very being when the first blast of cold air hits you? 

Often I have to fight that urge when winter’s chill begins. But I stop and think. The thin blankets I have at home to cover my good quilt or spread on my bed or comforter so the cat can walk across my bed with out messing up the good covers. There are about three of those to match the colors of the bed coverings.   

Then there are some thin ones I rotate between red at Christmas time and brown or blue during the rest of the year for protecting the backs of the couch and love seat where my cat has found a favorite place to sleep. So these are not just for my comfort.

Then there are heavier covers I use during cold winter nights on top of my bed. There are about three of them. I also have lighter blankets that are so wonderfully, velvety soft that I just love to have them around my shoulders when I am in the recliner or under the blanket and quilt when I feel cold and tired. The softness and extra warmth just seem to relax me.    

Have you heard on the news about the benefit of sleeping under a weighted blanket? Anywhere from 4-20 pounds of added blanket covering you at night can give your body the feeling of being hugged or comforted enough to relax you by causing your body to release serotonin, which helps you relax and maybe sleep.

Instead of buying a $35 or $200 or more blanket weighted with 4- 20 pounds of plastic pellets, I think I will stick to a soft blanket layer around me with a comforter over the sheet and an extra thicker blanket on top of that. There have been nights when I couldn’t sleep and put that soft blanket close to my skin and felt the softness and warmth and fell asleep. Maybe they have something there after all!   

I wrote about my grandmother’s soft, warm, fuzzy velvet robe when I was little and how I thought it’s warmth could protect me in the cold Arctic winter, Well, a good imagination can help keep you warm too, at least to some degree.

So with the snow, cold winds, ice and plunging temperatures, get snuggled up to your spouse, dog, cat or blanket, hunker down and stay warm. Drink some hot beverage, put your long johns on and stay warm. It’s cold out there!!