This Cold?!? It's Not so Bad

It is cold out there!  My thermometer read 9 degrees just a few minutes ago, but now it is a balmy 12 degrees.  Warming up fast now.  Aw, I remember the "good old days"............sometimes the not so "good old days", especially those cold winter night days.  If you lived at our house you might hear:

"Go to the well house and turn on the light."  That little lone light would make all the difference between water in the morning or none.  It was a inconvenience, but a slight one when compared to turning on the water and nothing, not even cold water........

"Get your coat on, we have to go break the ice for the cows."  Usually this was a chore for Robert and Daddy.  A cold one for sure, but when you raise cattle, it has to be done.  I remember Mom and Robert doing this many times before Daddy came home from work.  My mother was a saint, a blessed saint and she loved my daddy. 

"Make sure you have on your gloves.  I need all of you to help feed the cows."  Yes, this is another chore that has to be done if you have cattle.  No getting around it because there is definitely no grass for cattle in the winter especially on those bitterly cold days; like today.  And it seemed to me that there was always a baby something out there that needed our attention; baby pigs, new born calves, a puppy....something that needed to be wrapped and protected. 

"Turn on the heater in your room, Regina."  Yes, I had a gas heater in my room, lucky, lucky me.  My room and the bathroom were the only two rooms with a heater besides the living room stove and the gas cooking stove in the kitchen.  It was so nice to have a toasty warm room especially when your feet hit the floor at 6:30 in the morning.  Again, I was lucky.

"Leave the cabinet doors open and let the water drip."  The weather forecasters still us to leave the cabinet doors open.

"We have to wrap the pipes."  Without even a thought of guilt we kids would be snug around the stove while my folks would be off in other parts of the house and outside wrapping those pipes.  I now have a greater appreciation for all that my parents did to make our lives comfortable.

It's not pleasant............all this cold..........but I remember a time when it was much more unpleasant than today.  I am blessed that I can go in any room of my house, day or night, and be comfortable.  I have soft cushiony carpet so that my feet don't hit the bare floor.  As I type, I hear the soft whir of warm air surging through the vents.  I have a nice fireplace on those cold night when we might loose power.  My oven is ready in an instant for the quiche I plan to make later. 

No, we don't nave to open the cabinet doors.........or let the water drip.........or turn the light on in the well house..........or chip ice for the cattle to drink from the pond.........or wrap the pipes.........or turn on the heater in the back room.  But I kind of miss not having a stove where I can raise my night gown and back up to warm my legs.  Beat red warm legs...........now scamper off to bed.  And I miss that old iron that Grandma Dawkins had.  On winter nights when I'd stay with her, she'd warm that old cast iron on the stove, wrap it in a towel, and put it in the bed for our feet.

This cold?!?  It's not so bad.

I love you.