By Merisa Sherman
It was quiet. A little too quiet. An eerie quiet. No fresh animal tracks on the ground, no wind moving the trees around. It’s so cold, you feel like even the surrounding air must be frozen even though it truly freezes at temps colder than 300 degrees. You couldn’t hear anything from the outside, like the world had frozen in place.
Looking from the inside out, the day looks perfect, not a cloud in the sky as if they, too, were afraid of the temperature. The sun, large in the sky, glistens against the snow and the world seems to be sparkle in the cold. It’s so stunningly beautiful, that it almost tricks you into stepping outside into the dangerous silence.
So, you venture out.
Maybe just to the mailbox and you can feel the hairs in your nostrils freezing together and you keep wiggling your nose in an attempt to keep everything from stiffening up. Nordic races are cancelled at around -15 F. to prevent the lungs from freezing. If you can throw a pot of water in the air to make snow or instantly make Jello, it’s cold enough for the body to start freezing from the inside out. It’s crazy cold.
indoors, however, you could hear sounds of the struggle for life as the house went through its aches and pains. The wood groans and cracks, whether it’s freezing in the walls or burning in the fireplace. You put your hand on the wall and you can feel, not just hear, the cold air slowly seeping in through the tiniest of cracks.
And the scariest noise of all, the gurgling of the pipes. That fear of the frozen pipe, that faint tint of brown as the ceiling sheetrock slowly dissolves in water and your worst homeowner dreams are realized. You watch the sheetrock bubble up and fall, just as the walls seem to be melting right in front of you.
I have a few friends looking for a place to live for a few months while their homes are repaired. If you or anyone you know has liveable space or furniture to help out a member of our community rebuild, please reach out! Your neighbors need you.
Merisa Sherman is a long time Killington resident, bartender, KMS coach and realtor. She can be reached at [email protected].
