they can be a place of solitude for the ponderor. but a place of torture in the cold. i remember back when i was in my mid teens, coming in at the end of the day during a nasty cold spell, looking for supper. my hands swelled up so much i couldn't hold the fork.
"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money." (Alexis De Tocqueville)