[Open Post: Insulation]

As the summer rolls inevitably toward autumn--as the days grow short, and the morning breeze off the lake now and then has the faintest bite--Laertes's thoughts turn toward the practical problem of winter. Their walls keep out rain and wind well, but Laertes knows that the long winter and the heartstopping chill of Dark will be more than he can bear.

So it is that he's set up a sawhorse, dozens of planed boards, and a huge stack of straw. He nails the boards into place over the exposed studs of the interior, then drops the straw into the gap between interior and exterior walls. Come winter, that straw will keep his little family snug as dormice.