Betty Hanner writes that we all like to complain about the cold weather Ɖ while we are snuggled in woolen socks, fleece-lined boots, thermal underwear, down-filled coats and whatever else we need to brave the cold outdoors. Then we come into centrally heated homes, soak in hot tubs of water, crawl into beds warmed by electric blankets, wake up to automatically brewed hot coffee, and go to work in heated cars Ɖ and still we say we are cold.

I can well remember when I had none of these creature comforts, Betty writes. “When I was growing up in the rural South, girls didn’t wear long pants for any occasion, not even if it turned very cold. My dresses were mostly made of cotton, and my warmest coat was not really suitable for extremely cold weather. Many times, I waited for the school bus in icy weather. The bus was not very warm, and our drafty schoolhouse was not much better.

Then, when 1 got home from school, there were outdoor chores Ɖ and cold weather was no excuse for not doing them. Many times, after I had finished my chores, I would find the sunny side of the house and play outside because it was warmer than our poorly heated home.

After supper it was nice because, in our main room, Daddy filled the huge fireplace with oak logs. The room was well lit from the roaring flames. We liked to poke the logs and watch the sparks fly. How many times our mother told us kids not to do that!

Did you know that if you take a straw-we got ours from the broom Ɖ and burn the tip, you can write letters in the air with the smoke it makes? Naturally, we thought we were keeping it safely over the hearth, but still we were reminded quite often not to play in the fire.

I would stand on the hearth with my hands on the mantel as my front almost scorched and my backside froze. Then I'd tum and my backside would nearly scorch while my front got cold. I should have been a ballerina with all the turns I learned.

Our "hot tub" was a large washtub placed in the kitchen after supper while the stove was still warm. Sometimes our baths amounted only to a quick sponging off; a drafty kitchen is not good company for damp bodies.

Then we were ready for bed Ɖ and how warm and cozy our bed was! My younger sister and I shared a bed in an unheated room. Sometimes it was so cold it felt damp. But our bed was warm because we heated bricks at the fireplace and wrapped them in cloth to put at our feet. Mama also heated a thick quilt by the fire, then rolled it up quickly so it didn't cool. Then we ran to jump into bed on top of the heated quilt. With the bricks at our feet and many quilts on top of us, we were warm, really warm, for the first time all day.

So many memories fill my mind . . . like breaking the ice in the water bucket in the morning before we could wash our hands . . . like helping Mama wash clothes by hand outside in open tubs and having them freeze as we stretched them out on the clothesline .. . like hurrying to finish a meal to run to the fireplace.

In spite of the hardships caused by cold weather, 1 remember those days "way back when" with warm feelings of love and a strange sense of confidence. If life should take a bad turn and I should have to go back to the Good Old Days, I have no doubt that I could handle it.

But for now, I thank God that I'm permitted hot running water, a warm home, good food and most of all, valuable lessons learned in the school of hard knocks.

-Good Old Days

Betty's article brought back a lot of memories. Many of us grew up in old homes that had little or no insulation and usually one stove, located in the living room. We can remember waking up on cold winter mornings and finding ice and snow on the inside of our windows.

On especially cold nights we kids would make a pallet in the living room so we could sleep by the fire. There were no electric blankets or central heat. Like Betty, I can remember when cold was really cold! Those days are just memories and for that I am thankful.