Cold. Cold. Cold

 

One of my dad’s favorite sayings, as the days in winter got a bit longer, and nights a little shorter, “As the days lengthen, the cold strengthens.”  That surely fits this winter.  December and January, mild.  Early February, mild. Then wham, the temperate dips below zero, sometimes fifteen and twenty below, and barely climbs into the single digits plus.  And it goes on for days.  Not just a day or two without a warmup, but days on end.

I think back to when I was a kid attending a one-room school, and walking a mile to get there.  There were weeks when the temperature each morning was below zero, sometimes twenty, even thirty, and more below.  And yet we walked to school each day, as the country school, no matter how cold or how much snow, always remained open.

I wore layers of clothing—long woolen underwear, two pairs of overalls, heavy wool socks, a wool shirt, a wool mackinaw jacket, wool mittens, a cap with fur earlaps, and a wool scarf that my grandmother had knitted.   My mother wrapped the scarf around my head several times so only my eyes were not covered.

Arriving at school, which was heated with a wood stove, on below-zero

mornings, we all sat around the stove to do our lessons.  The front of the school was freezing cold.

On the walk home, not quite as cold, I looked forward to my mother’s woodstove cooking.  She always had something special on those cold days—homemade bread, vegetable soup.  As I think about it today, I can still remember those wonderful smells coming from our farm kitchen.  For a little while, I forgot how cold it was.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Below zero temperatures must be respected.

UPCOMING EVENT: Sunday, February 21.

 Register now for PBS Wisconsin’s Garden & Landscape Expo (Feb. 20-21) Natasha  Kassulke and I will be sharing “Setting the Stage for Successful Gardening” from noon to 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 21.

Register Wisconsin Garden & Landscape Expo (wigardenexpo.com)

 

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

To purchase Jerry’s books, go to your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and Dave, and look at their great selection of my books, including my new ones, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.