We don’t prepare for winter like we used to. Homes are not built that way. Society does not run that way. I remember the pantry at the farm, massive and stocked up with the most amount of food I’ve ever seen. Multiple bags of hula hoops, a chest freezer the size of a couch, no doubt stuffed with the tastiest cuts. As they should be.
There is something to be said for living seasonably. Strawberries taste all the better in the summer when you haven’t spent all winter eating shitty imported ones form Spain or Morocco. Winter vegetables, turnip, parsnip, carrots, a hint of spice for the exotic that is the taste of winter. Mulled wine and port, figs and nuts. Things we used to store like squirrels. Now of course we do not need to do that. During extremes of weather the shops are only closed for a day or two, if at all. You might not get bread for the Warburton’s delivery but you can probably get locally produced rolls. And people panic buy because they can’t get stuff instantly, like at the pandemic beginning. Maybe the lesson in preparing for winter like our ancestors did is a good one. It’s not that long ago that we used to have to do this after all.