I crawled out of the sack this morning and man it was cold. I heard it was supposed to be -9, but I just checked and it is -2. So I inched the furnace up just a hair and thought back to 65 years ago, when the best I could do was huddle around the wood stove in the front room and try to get just a little heat going. It was mostly Jake's job to get up very early and get the fire going. It just was easier for him to bank the fire and throw on another log through the night than it was to get up and build a whole new fire. That way at least a little heat was going. The stove was closest to the room where Dad, Jake, Josephine, Donna, Mary ande I slept. Momma slept in the back bedroom with Dorothy and sometimes Mary.
Going to bed was never really anything to look forward to, if you know what I mean. In the summer it was not so bad because we kind of spread out and slept wherever there was a flat place, but winter meant getting out the blankets and all of us piling on the one bed that was not occupied by dad. It was a matter of survival back then. Blankets were mostly the old wool things that came from the Army. They were scratchy wool and if we were really lucky one side would have a sheet or something tacked on to it. The idea of a sheet under us and one over us was unheard of at that time. If such a thing existed they would be on dad's bed. Elbows were pillows. Jake slept across the bottom of the bed wrapped in his own cocoon because he was a boy after all and could not sleep with his head near our heads. I realize this is a weird way of thinking and would be considered scandalous today, but it was what it was back then in the "Grapes of Wrath" world of John Stienbeck.
Usually this sleeping arrangement worked pretty well, but there were times it failed. Mary was not completely dependable when it came to sleeping the whole night without an "accident". On those nights she was unceremoniously awoken and hauled off to mothers bed and we were left to sleep around the circle of wet mattress where she had been previously. We usually tried to put her on the edge of the bed because then her little bed wetting problem was not so catastrophic. And another bad habit she had was chewing her toenails and the edge of the bed gave her better access to her chosen target. ( I often wonder if she ever gave up on that little habit.) Mary was always Dad's favorite because she was little, quiet and very sweet.
Josephine eloped when she was 15 or so. That freed up some bed space and we were very happy to have those few inches of mattress. Now I have to go on record here as saying she eloped with a man who was 29 years old. Today he would be tarred and feathered, but then it was fairly normal. The legal age for a girl to get married back then was 13 in the state of Mississippi and not much older in most of the other states. I think that is right. And if a girl wanted to get married younger than that she needed one of her parents to sign for her. We have definitely improved on that law!
Back in those days if a boy got in trouble with the law, he could join the service and they would drop the charges. He had to be at least 16. Jake changed his birth certificate and got in when he was 16. He was in the service and back out before most of his classmates graduated. He was sure handsome in his uniform.
I can remember walking home from school after a snow storm. We had a friend named Jim Davis and mother made arrangements with him to walk in front of us and break a trail in the snow. Had he not done that we would probably still be there. I recall once it was so bad dad brought the horse to break the trail. When they talk about record snow falls, I know what they are talking about. We measured it in feet back then.
So this morning I set here in my warm little house and look outside at the snow on the ground and wish I could stay home, but no such luck. But I have a car that goes in the snow very well and if I just use a little bit of common sense I can make it to town and back. It is supposed to warm up today and being the heat seeking woman I am, I am looking forward to that.
Going to bed was never really anything to look forward to, if you know what I mean. In the summer it was not so bad because we kind of spread out and slept wherever there was a flat place, but winter meant getting out the blankets and all of us piling on the one bed that was not occupied by dad. It was a matter of survival back then. Blankets were mostly the old wool things that came from the Army. They were scratchy wool and if we were really lucky one side would have a sheet or something tacked on to it. The idea of a sheet under us and one over us was unheard of at that time. If such a thing existed they would be on dad's bed. Elbows were pillows. Jake slept across the bottom of the bed wrapped in his own cocoon because he was a boy after all and could not sleep with his head near our heads. I realize this is a weird way of thinking and would be considered scandalous today, but it was what it was back then in the "Grapes of Wrath" world of John Stienbeck.
Usually this sleeping arrangement worked pretty well, but there were times it failed. Mary was not completely dependable when it came to sleeping the whole night without an "accident". On those nights she was unceremoniously awoken and hauled off to mothers bed and we were left to sleep around the circle of wet mattress where she had been previously. We usually tried to put her on the edge of the bed because then her little bed wetting problem was not so catastrophic. And another bad habit she had was chewing her toenails and the edge of the bed gave her better access to her chosen target. ( I often wonder if she ever gave up on that little habit.) Mary was always Dad's favorite because she was little, quiet and very sweet.
Josephine eloped when she was 15 or so. That freed up some bed space and we were very happy to have those few inches of mattress. Now I have to go on record here as saying she eloped with a man who was 29 years old. Today he would be tarred and feathered, but then it was fairly normal. The legal age for a girl to get married back then was 13 in the state of Mississippi and not much older in most of the other states. I think that is right. And if a girl wanted to get married younger than that she needed one of her parents to sign for her. We have definitely improved on that law!
Back in those days if a boy got in trouble with the law, he could join the service and they would drop the charges. He had to be at least 16. Jake changed his birth certificate and got in when he was 16. He was in the service and back out before most of his classmates graduated. He was sure handsome in his uniform.
I can remember walking home from school after a snow storm. We had a friend named Jim Davis and mother made arrangements with him to walk in front of us and break a trail in the snow. Had he not done that we would probably still be there. I recall once it was so bad dad brought the horse to break the trail. When they talk about record snow falls, I know what they are talking about. We measured it in feet back then.
So this morning I set here in my warm little house and look outside at the snow on the ground and wish I could stay home, but no such luck. But I have a car that goes in the snow very well and if I just use a little bit of common sense I can make it to town and back. It is supposed to warm up today and being the heat seeking woman I am, I am looking forward to that.
Stay safe out there!
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