Ok, it’s really cold! 20 degrees below zero last night. It doesn’t seem that bad unless the wind is blowing but you can feel it in your lungs when you breath in. We kept the faucets dripping all night to make sure the pipes didn’t freeze. We’ve had enough pipe issues for a while. The kids had a snow day yesterday and in the afternoon we got the dreaded call telling us they will be home 1 more day. (it’s actually a good thing as they both had fevers from their lingering colds yesterday) Uncle J’s plane took off ok but Zio Lolo is still with us. He’s supposed to fly out to NY late this afternoon. It’s been a wild year for weather. Some say it’s some kind of sign of something but I think it’s part cyclical, part man made. What I mean is these type of years probably come along maybe every 100 or 200 years but we live such a short time that this generation hasn’t experienced it. The man made part is probably a result of all the crap (for lack of a better word) that we as a “world of progress” have spewed into the atmosphere. I’m not sure what or how we’ve done this but there has to be some negative implications to all the pollution we endlessly generate. Hopefully we will all wake up and realize we have only 1 planet and start to take care of it before it’s too late.<\/p>\n
I was reading another blog the other day and I came across a guy who asked his mother about life when she was a kid in the early 1900’s in Montana. It’s pretty interesting when you read it as it makes you appreciate all the comforts we have in today’s modern society. They sure worked hard just to exist 100 years ago. It’s kind of long but I’m going to add it at the end of today’s post for those who want to read it. You might want to take a peek as if things keep going they way they are with our economy, endless unrest, revolution and fighting around the world, etc., we might end up someday with a similar life.<\/p>\n
Roller boy is at it again, skating around the house in his pj’s. The protest in Egypt has turned violent, (hope that doesn’t spiral out of control), and I think we’ll put on a pot of homemade soup to ward off the cold. The oldest boy is still sleeping and the youngest is ready for breakfast so time to go. Stay warm and be safe. Here’s the promised piece on life in the early 1900’s. I’m sure my Mom and mother in law have some similar memories.<\/p>\n
God Bless,<\/p>\n
Wonder what is what like when my grandparents or their parents were kids? Ever wonder what life might be like?\u00c2\u00a0 What would it really be like to have no running water, electricity, sewer, newspaper or Internet?\u00c2\u00a0 No supermarket or fire department close at hand?<\/p>\n
I have a good imagination but I decided to talk to someone who would know first hand what it was like: my mother.\u00c2\u00a0 She grew up on a homestead in the middle of Montana during the 1920s and 1930s.\u00c2\u00a0 It was a two room Cottonwood cabin with the nearest neighbor three miles away.\u00c2\u00a0 She was oldest at 9, so she was in charge of her brother and sister.\u00c2\u00a0 This was her reality; I feel there are lessons here for the rest of us.<\/p>\n
There was a Majestic stove that used wood and coal.\u00c2\u00a0 The first person up at four thirty A.M., usually her father, would start the fire for breakfast.\u00c2\u00a0 It was a comforting start to the day but your feet would get cold when you got out of bed.<\/p>\n
A crosscut saw and axe was used to cut wood for the stove and after that experience, you got pretty stingy with the firewood because you know what it takes to replace it.\u00c2\u00a0 The old timers say that it warms you when you cut it, when you split it, and again when you burn it.\u00c2\u00a0 The homes that were typical on homesteads and ranches of the era were smaller with lower ceilings than modern houses just so they could be heated easier.\u00c2\u00a0 The saw and axe were not tools to try hurrying with.\u00c2\u00a0 You set a steady pace and maintained it.\u00c2\u00a0 A man in a hurry with an axe may loose some toes or worse.\u00c2\u00a0 One side effect of the saw and axe use is that you are continuously hungry and will consume a huge amount of food.
\nLights in the cabin were old fashioned kerosene lamps.\u00c2\u00a0 It was the kid\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s job to trim the wicks, clean the chimneys and refill the reservoirs.<\/p>\n
The privy was downhill from the house next to the corral and there was no toilet paper.\u00c2\u00a0 Old newspaper, catalogs or magazines were used and in the summer a pan of barely warm water was there for hygiene. \u00c2\u00a0During a dark night, blizzard, or brown out from a dust storm, you followed the corral poles-no flashlights.<\/p>\n
There were two springs close to the house that ran clear, clean, and cold water.\u00c2\u00a0 The one right next to it was a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153soft\u00e2\u20ac\u009d water spring.\u00c2\u00a0 It was great for washing clothes and felt smooth, almost slick, on your skin.\u00c2\u00a0 If you drank from it, it would clean you out just as effectively as it cleaned clothes.\u00c2\u00a0 Not all clean water is equal.<\/p>\n
The second spring was a half mile from the cabin and it was cold, clear, and tasted wonderful.\u00c2\u00a0 The spring itself was deep – an eight foot corral pole never hit bottom- and flowed through the year.\u00c2\u00a0 It was from here that the kids would fill two barrels on a heavy duty sled with water for the house and the animals.\u00c2\u00a0 They would lead the old white horse that was hitched to the sledge back to the buildings and distribute the water for people and animals.\u00c2\u00a0 In the summer, they made two trips in the morning and maybe a third in the evening.\u00c2\u00a0 In the winter, one trip in the morning and one in the evening.\u00c2\u00a0 They did this alone.<\/p>\n
Breakfast was a big meal because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to be working hard.\u00c2\u00a0 Usually there would be homemade sausage, eggs and either cornmeal mush or oatmeal.\u00c2\u00a0 More food was prepared than what was going to be eaten right then.\u00c2\u00a0 The extra food was left on the table under a dish towel and eaten as wanted during the day.\u00c2\u00a0 When evening meal was cooked, any leftovers were reheated.\u00c2\u00a0 The oatmeal or the mush was sliced and fried for supper.\u00c2\u00a0 It was served with butter, syrup, honey or molasses.<\/p>\n
The homemade sausage was from a quarter or half a hog.\u00c2\u00a0 The grinder was a small kitchen grinder that clamped on the edge of a table and everybody took turns cranking.\u00c2\u00a0 When all the hog had been ground, the sausage mix was added and kneaded in by hand.\u00c2\u00a0 Then it was immediately fried into patties.\u00c2\u00a0 The patties were placed, layer by layer, into a stone crock and covered with the rendered sausage grease.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0The patties were reheated as needed.\u00c2\u00a0 The grease was used for gravies as well as re-cooking the patties.\u00c2\u00a0 Occasionally a fresh slice of bread would be slathered with a layer of sausage grease and a large slice of fresh onion would top it off for quick sandwich.\u00c2\u00a0 Nothing was wasted.
\nSome of their protein came from dried fish or beef.\u00c2\u00a0 Usually this had to be soaked to remove the excess salt or lye.\u00c2\u00a0 Then it was boiled.\u00c2\u00a0 Leftovers would go into hash, fish patties, or potato cakes.<\/p>\n
Beans?\u00c2\u00a0 There was almost always a pot of beans on the stove in the winter time.
\nChickens and a couple of milk cows provided needed food to balance the larder.\u00c2\u00a0 They could not have supported a growing family without these two resources.
\nThe kitchen garden ran mostly to root crops.\u00c2\u00a0 Onion, turnip, rutabaga, potato and radishes grew under chicken wire.\u00c2\u00a0 Rhubarb was canned for use as a winter tonic to stave off scurvy. \u00c2\u00a0Lettuce, corn, and other above ground crops suffered from deer, rats, and gumbo clay soil. Surprisingly, cabbage did well. \u00c2\u00a0The winter squash didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do much, only 2 or 3 gourds. \u00c2\u00a0Grasshoppers were controlled by the chickens and turkeys.\u00c2\u00a0 There was endless hoeing.<\/p>\n
Washing clothes required heating water on the stove, pouring it into three galvanized wash tubs-one for the homemade lye soap and scrub board, the other two for rinsing.\u00c2\u00a0 Clothes were rinsed and wrung out by hand, then hung on a wire to dry in the air.\u00c2\u00a0 Your hands became red and raw, your arms and shoulders sore beyond belief by the end of the wash.\u00c2\u00a0 Wet clothing, especially wool, is heavy and the gray scum from the soap was hard to get out of the clothes.<\/p>\n
Personal baths were in a galvanized wash tub screened by a sheet.\u00c2\u00a0 In the winter it was difficult to haul, heat and handle the water so baths weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t done often.\u00c2\u00a0 Most people would do sponge baths.<\/p>\n
Everybody worked including the kids.\u00c2\u00a0 There were always more chores to be done than time in the day.\u00c2\u00a0 It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just this one family; it was the neighbors as well.\u00c2\u00a0 You were judged first and foremost by your work ethic and then your honesty.\u00c2\u00a0 This was critical because if you were found wanting in either department, the extra jobs that might pay cash money, a quarter of beef, hog or mutton would not be available.\u00c2\u00a0 Further, the cooperation with your neighbors was the only assurance that if you needed help, you would get help.\u00c2\u00a0 Nobody in the community could get by strictly on their own.\u00c2\u00a0 A few tried.\u00c2\u00a0 When they left, nobody missed them.
\nYou didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to like someone to cooperate and work with him or her.<\/p>\n
Several times a year people would get together for organized activities: barn raising, butcher bee, harvest, roofing, dance, or picnics.\u00c2\u00a0 There were lots of picnics, usually in a creek bottom with cottonwoods for shade or sometimes at the church.\u00c2\u00a0 Always, the women would have tables groaning with food, full coffee pots and, if they were lucky, maybe some lemonade. (Lemons were expensive and scarce)\u00c2\u00a0 After the work (even for picnics, there was usually a project to be done first) came the socializing.\u00c2\u00a0 Many times people would bring bedding and sleep out overnight, returning home the next day.<\/p>\n
A half dozen families would get together for a butcher bee in the cold days of late fall.\u00c2\u00a0 Cows were slaughtered first, then pigs, mutton, and finally chickens.\u00c2\u00a0 Blood from some of the animals was collected in milk pails, kept warm on a stove to halt coagulation and salt added.\u00c2\u00a0 Then it was canned for later use in blood dumplings, sausage or pudding.\u00c2\u00a0 The hides were salted for later tanning; the feathers from the fowl were held for cleaning and used in pillows or mattresses.\u00c2\u00a0 The skinned quarters of the animals would be dipped into cold salt brine and hung to finish cooling out so they could be taken home safely for processing.\u00c2\u00a0 Nothing went to waste.<\/p>\n
The most feared occurrence in the area was fire.\u00c2\u00a0 If it got started, it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going out until it burned itself out.\u00c2\u00a0 People could and did loose everything.
\nThe most used weapon was the .22 single shot Winchester with .22 shorts.\u00c2\u00a0 It was used to take the heads off pheasant, quail, rabbit and ducks.\u00c2\u00a0 If you held low, the low powered round didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tear up the meat.\u00c2\u00a0 The shooters, usually the kids, quickly learned sight picture and trigger control although they never heard those terms.\u00c2\u00a0 If you took five rounds of ammunition, you better bring back the ammunition or a critter for the pot for each round expended. It was also a lot quieter and less expensive [in those days] than the .22 Long Rifle cartridges.<\/p>\n
If you are trying to maintain a low profile, the odor of freshly baked bread can be detected in excess of three miles on a calm day.\u00c2\u00a0 Especially by kids. Foods were stored in bug proof containers.\u00c2\u00a0 The most popular was fifteen pound metal coffee cans with tight lids.\u00c2\u00a0 These were for day to day use in the kitchen.\u00c2\u00a0 (I still have one. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a family heirloom.)\u00c2\u00a0 The next were barrels to hold the bulk foods like flour, sugar, corn meal, and rice.\u00c2\u00a0 Everything was sealed or the vermin would get to it.\u00c2\u00a0 There was always at least one, preferably two, months of food on hand.\u00c2\u00a0 If the fall cash allowed, they would stock up for the entire winter before the first snowfall.<\/p>\n The closest thing to a cooler was a metal box in the kitchen floor.\u00c2\u00a0 It had a very tight lid and was used to store milk, eggs and butter for a day or two. Butter was heavily salted on the outside to keep it from going rancid or melting.\u00c2\u00a0 Buttermilk, cottage cheese and regular cheese was made from raw milk after collecting for a day or two.\u00c2\u00a0 The box was relatively cool in the summer and did not freeze in the winter.<\/p>\n Mice and rats love humanity because we keep our environment warm and tend to be sloppy with food they like.\u00c2\u00a0 Snakes love rats and mice so they were always around.\u00c2\u00a0 If the kids were going to play outside, they would police the area with a hoe and a shovel.\u00c2\u00a0 After killing and disposing of the rattlesnakes- there was always at least one-then they could play for a while in reasonable safety.<\/p>\n The mice and rats were controlled by traps, rocks from sling shots, cats and coyotes.\u00c2\u00a0 The cats had a hard and usually short life because of the coyotes.\u00c2\u00a0 The coyotes were barely controlled and seemed to be able to smell firearms at a distance.\u00c2\u00a0 There were people who hunted the never-ending numbers for the bounty.<\/p>\n After chores were done, kid\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s active imagination was used in their play.\u00c2\u00a0 They didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a lot of toys.\u00c2\u00a0 There were a couple of dolls for the girls, a pocket knife and some marbles for the boy, and a whole lot of empty to fill.\u00c2\u00a0 Their father\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s beef calves were pretty gentle by the time they were sold at market – the kids rode them regularly.\u00c2\u00a0 (Not a much fat on those calves but a lot of muscle.)\u00c2\u00a0 They would look for arrow heads, lizards, and wild flowers.\u00c2\u00a0 Chokecherry, buffalo berry, gooseberry and currants were picked for jelly and syrups.\u00c2\u00a0 Sometimes the kids made chokecherry wine.<\/p>\n On a hot summer day in the afternoon, the shade on the east side of the house was treasured and the east wind, if it came, even more so. Contact with the outside world was an occasional trip to town for supplies using a wagon and team.\u00c2\u00a0 A battery operated radio was used very sparingly in the evenings.\u00c2\u00a0 A rechargeable car battery was used for power.\u00c2\u00a0 School was a six mile walk one way and you brought your own lunch.\u00c2\u00a0 One school teacher regularly put potatoes on the stove to bake and shared them with the kids.\u00c2\u00a0 She was very well thought of by the kids and the parents.<\/p>\n These people were used to a limited amount of social interaction.\u00c2\u00a0 They were used to no television, radio, or outside entertainment. They were used to having only three or four books.\u00c2\u00a0 A fiddler or guitar player for a picnic or a dance was a wonderful thing to be enjoyed.\u00c2\u00a0 Church was a social occasion as well as religious. Ok, it’s really cold! 20 degrees below zero last night. It doesn’t seem that bad unless the wind is blowing but you can feel it in your lungs when you breath in. We kept the faucets dripping all night to … Continue reading
\nTwice a year the cabin was emptied of everything.\u00c2\u00a0 The walls, floors, and ceilings were scrubbed with lye soap and a bristle brush.\u00c2\u00a0 All the belongings were also cleaned before they came back into the house.\u00c2\u00a0 This was pest control and it was needed until\u00c2\u00a0DDT<\/a> became available.\u00c2\u00a0 Bedbugs, lice, ticks and other creepy crawlies were a fact of life and were controlled by brute force.\u00c2\u00a0 Failure to do so left you in misery and maybe ill.<\/p>\n
\nAdults hated hailstorms because of the destruction, kids loved them because they could collect the hail and make ice cream.
\nChildbirth was usually handled at a neighbor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s house with a midwife if you were lucky.\u00c2\u00a0 If you got sick you were treated with ginger tea, honey, chicken soup or sulphur and molasses.\u00c2\u00a0 Castor oil was used regularly as well.\u00c2\u00a0 Wounds were cleaned with soap and disinfected with whisky.\u00c2\u00a0 Mustard based poultices were often used for a variety of ills.\u00c2\u00a0 Turpentine, mustard and lard was one that was applied to the chest for pneumonia or a hacking cough.<\/p>\n
\nThe church ladies and their butter and egg money allowed most rural churches to be built and to prosper.\u00c2\u00a0 The men were required to do the heavy work but the ladies made it come together.\u00c2\u00a0 The civilizing of the west sprang from these roots.\u00c2\u00a0 Some of those ladies had spines of steel.\u00c2\u00a0 They needed it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"