by Curt Kovener
I’m going to clue you in on a bedroom secret at our house. This isn’t X-rated but it is Z-rated as in ZZZzzzz.
When colder weather arrives in the wilderness, our bed gets covered with flannel sheets: top sheet, bottom sheet and pillow cases.
Yep, the same material we all wore as footed PJ’s as we toddled through the house in diapers and training pants. It’s the same material I wear three seasons of the year in my outdoor work shirts.
Becky and I have found that in our “mature years” that comfort is playing a larger role in our lives.
Satin sheets are way over-rated for sleeptime. They are cold and never warm up. The percale and muslin cotton sheets might be fine for summer night sleeping, but beginning when the frost is on the pumpkin and the snow is on the rooftop, ice on the pond, and the thermometer is even too cold to rise, we switch to the soft, warm embrace of old time flannel sheets.
I think growing up Mom called it a sheet blanket—a flat, white cotton flannel sheet that covered you. But you still had to deal with the initial cold bottom sheet.
The wilderness home now has an assortment of flannel sheets in a variety of colors—mainly plaids and outdoor scenes.
After a day of working outdoors, followed by some warming up in front of the fireplace with a toddy or two, the flannel sheets and thick comforter offer a warm hug for the night’s slumber.
In the winter we forgo electric blankets. Instead, the bedroom thermostat is set in the mid-60’s range and we pile on blankets and comforter over the flannel sheets.
And the snoozing is never better. I 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 you flail in the flannel through the night, there is warmth.
There is a downside to flannel sheets. I do not advise wearing flannel pajamas or sweatpants because flannel on flannel acts like Velcro®. You stay put for the night and may need assistance with morning extraction.
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 best left for a topic for another column.