I turned on the floor heater in my car this morning, for the first time this season. There was just a little too much chill without it.

Yesterday I closed windows in the house one by one as the temperature dropped. I keep them open as long as I can, but it was getting downright cold.

I don’t want to have the furnace kick on anytime soon. It’s bad enough when the days get shorter and the morning jackets come out, but I really don’t like the smell of when the furnace comes on for the first time, or the knowledge that stale air will hang in the house for a few months. The humidifier we put on helps, but not like May does.

This post originally appeared on ourMidland.com, the online home of the Midland (MI) Daily News. Republished with permission.