Even though winter doesn’t officially start until December 21, old man winter showed up here in southeast Missouri with a vengeance.
As I sit here writing in my journal I can here the wind gusting outside my tiny cabin. It is blowing relentlessly across Mother Earth. It hasn’t let up all day. I pray that the homeless have secured a warm place to sleep for the night.
My mind wanders back to my grandparents who lived in a drafty old farmhouse with nothing but an old potbelly wood stove to provide them warmth. At one time the cracks in the floor were so bad that you could see the chickens gathered underneath the house to absorb the warmth of the stove as the heat escaped through the cracks. My grandparents survived many winters in that old farm house.
Feather beds were present on all the beds to help keep the occupants warm since the only stove was located in the living room. On top of the bed were many quilts to hold ones body heat for warmth. There was no inside plumbing so chamber pots were in fashion.
They didn’t get running water until I was 16 (1970). When I was twenty one (1975) my uncle and I installed an inside bathroom. I can’t ever remember them complaining about not having modern conveniences.
As I lie in bed tonight listening to the roar of the wind I am sure I will think about the winter nights I spent in the old farm house surrounded by the love of my grandparents.
My grandparents old farm house in 2017.
doubledacres 
Awesome. My grandparents had a similar house in the Bootheel area of Missouri. Water pumped into the kitchen from a well, always cold, the taste of water still clear in my mind, so good. Winter visits meant trips to an outhouse, or use of pots in middle of the night. Feather beds, like yours, with handmade quilts, lots of them, to keep you warm. Grandma said grandad had big cold feet, so she’d heat water for a hot water bottle for the foot of their bed. Heat came from a black pot bellied stove in the kitchen, or fireplace shared by living room and their bedroom, kids on pallets on the floor, we always loved it there. Window panes so thin they rattled with every blustery wind.
I love your stories, they ignite my memories, and wonder how the 20-somethings of today would handle life the way we all did. Thank you for reminding me how great family times could be, so many traditions started long before, trying to hold onto them more challenging every year
Thanks again for the fond trip down memory lane. Think I’ll go grab one of grannies old quilts and wrap myself up.
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So you did get the snow. Cold Beauty! we had -4 this morning with a heavy wind chill to feel like -20.
I do remember waking up as a kid with frost on the walls in the old farm house. i’m so spoiled now.
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We got an inch and a half. It tied a record for earliest and most snow from 1919. Low tonight in single digits. At 8:30 p.m. it was 12 degrees. At least the winds are calm tonight.
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