Humidifiers

• My husband and I both came down with bad colds that involve our sinuses and throats. I blame that terrible Thanksgiving night weather when we ventured out to the Otters game.
  

• Scientists say, "no" that cold doesn't cause it but I know better, especially when it involves your sinuses. Needless to say, we had a boring, sick weekend.

• I know through experience that nothing helps a scratchy throat like breathing in steam over a pot of water on the stove but I didn't want to stand over the stove for several days so I decided to replace the humidifier that bit the dust last year.
  

• I ventured to the Lowes store on the west side. No way was I going to go to upper Peach even though it is closer. It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving and it was peaceful at the Lowes on W 26th street.
  

• To make a long story short, I bought two rather big humidifiers. One for upstairs and one for downstairs. It is good for the wood furnishings, dry skin and a number of other things quoted on the box. I never liked the smell of the steam ones and they seem to sputter. I bought the large Hunter Carefree Humidifier Plus evaporative kind.
  

• You never need to change the wick filter and it is suppose to be quiet. It isn't when the fan is on Hi, but that is a good thing in my book. I like the sound of a large fan and I keep fans going year around to drown out any neighbor noises, starting cars, etc. that used to wake us up.
  

• There is also an occasional blup, not unlike the sound a 5-gallon water-cooler jug makes when you fill your cup. I don't mind that, either. As dry as our air gets with the radiator heat, I'll probably have to fill the tank daily to keep the humidity where I want it.
  

• I'm keeping our house at 60 percent humidity while we are sick and then probably keep it at 50 percent. My Boston Ferns already have perked up. Maybe my plants will do good indoors this winter. They usually look dead from the dry heat.
  

• And, of course, as soon as I bought them the weather gets warm and the air has plenty of humidity on its own anyway. But I know how temporary that is.