Coldest November in Norway in 91 years, says the local newspaper. I can certainly believe that, although I cannot remember that far back. Neither can my father, for that matter. That year was roughly similar to this one. Apart from that, none since people started to write down temperatures in this country.

I have pretty much given up on the living room. I keep it above freezing, but not enough to stay in. I try to keep my study warm enough for sitting, the bathroom warm enough for shitting, and the bedroom warm enough for sleeping. That’s pretty much it, and it is hard. I think the heat pump may be leaking, there is a weird smell when I use it that has not been there before. If it still works tomorrow it is probably not the heat transfer liquid that is leaking. I am not running it tonight though. The computers should keep the study safe from freezing.

The optimistic news is from the meteorologists, who say that Saturday afternoon the weather will change completely, to several degrees above freezing. They have said this for several days now, but they did not predict the sudden deepening of the cold tonight. They still think it is -8, but it is below -12 now (10 degrees F) and probably still sinking, as the sky is fairly clear. It looks like the winter is digging in before the battle…

It is not what I would have prayed for, but the truth is that I have not prayed for the cold to go away either. God surely has other things to consider as well. One should be very careful to not pray egotistical prayers, for they might be heard by someone other than the intended recipient. I will pray for my life and limbs, for I hope with them to still pay back some of the gratitude I owe this world. But luxury and excessive comfort is another matter. If God thinks I have too much of that, it may well be true. It is easy to get uppity when everything works like a charm the way I want it.

In the Norse mythology, one of the signs of Ragnarok -the Apocalypse – was the Fimbul Winter, three winters with no summer between them. But still worse than the cold upon the land was the cold in the hearts, where “no man will spare another”. From that kind of cold, I pray God save us.