The first time my pipes froze in Howell, I was new to town and completely unprepared. It was January 2019, that polar vortex weekend when temperatures plunged to 3°F, and I woke up to that sickening silence when you turn the faucet handle and…nothing happens. By noon, my kitchen ceiling had a water stain the shape of Lake Hopatcong, and I was on a first-name basis with an emergency plumber who charged roughly the equivalent…