by Curt Kovener 
I’m going to clue you in on a bedroom secret at our house.
At ease, porn protesters, this isn’t X-rated but it is Z-rated as in ZZZzzzzzz.
When colder weather arrives in this neck of the woods of the Hoosier State, our bed gets covered with flannel sheets: top sheet, bottom sheet, pillow cases.
Yep, the same material we all wore as footed PJ’s as we toddled through the house in diapers & training pants. The same material I wear three seasons of the year in my outdoor shirts.
What Miz Mary & I have found as we achieved middle age status is that comfort is playing a larger role in our lives.
Satin sheets are way over-rated for sleeptime. They are cold & never warm up. The percale and muslin cotton sheets might be fine for the hot summer night sleeping, but when the frost is on the pumpkin, snow on the rooftop, ice in the birdbath, and the thermometer is even too cold to rise, we switch to the soft, warm embrace of old-time flannel sheets.
Growing up I think Mom called it a sheet blanket—a flat, white cotton flannel sheet which covered you. But you still had to deal with the initial cold bottom sheet.
Miz Mary now has an assortment of flannel sheets in a variety of colors—mainly plaids & outdoor scenes.
The flannels are particularly appreciated up at the wilderness retreat where after a day of working outdoors and some warming up in front of the fireplace with a toddy or two the flannel sheets, extra blankets and comforter offer a warm hug for the night’s slumber.
We made converts out of some northern visitors up in the wilderness earlier this fall. They say they now have flannels in their bedroom. And where they live in northern Indiana they need them.
In the winter we forego electric blankets. Instead, our furnace thermostat is turned down into the mid-60° range and we pile blankets and a thick comforter onto the flannel sheets. And the snoozing is never better. You don’t feel cramped up fearing to move to a new sleeping position because the sheets where your body isn’t are cold. No matter where arms & legs flail through the night, there is warmth.
Miz Mary says the downside to flannel sheets is that she can’t wear flannel pajamas. She says they act like Velcro®. She has found some silk PJ’s lined with flannel…but maybe I’m telling you more than she would prefer.
In addition to flannel sheets and flannel shirts, I have found another comforting cold weather application for the fuzzy cotton fabric—flannel boxers. But maybe that is a topic for another column.
