When I was growing up we never heard terms such as polar vortex or Alberta Clipper and were never under a “Cold Weather Advisory”. The ‘old timers‘ would say,” We are in for a cold snap!” An old tin Fahrenheit thermometer nailed to our clothes line pole gave us an indication of temperatures. After Mom stirred the morning ashes and got the fires going she checked the thermometer. She often retuned with reports such as “You’ll have to bundle up. It’s 40 below.”
I remember those cold clear winter mornings. We did not seem to have as much wind but knew that it was colder with the wind. The term ‘windchill’ was unknown. In winter Mom was happiest when the wood box was full and there were extra heater blocks at the door as it seemed a struggle to keep warm. We knew we all had to work at it.
Our small house had been build by my father from the remains of tearing down an older house. It was all cedar lumber. The only insulation was some cedar shavings and the shingles were cedar. After the house was moved to my grandfather’s farm Mom always worried about fire and would say,“ If this house ever caught fire it would go up like a paper box.”
It took quite an amount of wood to keep two stoves going in the winter. Even then most of the windows were thickly coated with frost. We could scrape little peepholes to see out to the road. Often the water pail was frozen over in the morning. Mom would move her house plants to a table closer to the heater at night. Our beds were covered with heavy homemade comforters and on an extra cold night a heavy old coat was thrown over the boys’ bed. These things were just taken for granted in the effort to keep warm.
My brothers knew how to use axes, hand saws and the swede saw at an early age. When cousin Dave Loney came in the summer he was a great help at getting wood from the bush. I also remember a neighbour or two bringing a load of wood to help out. Mom was so grateful for any help and to see the woodpile increase.
In the early fall a neighbour would come with his sawing machine that was run by power from his tractor. One man would feed the wood into the big whirling saw blade and another would toss the blocks into piles. It was fascinating to watch but no one had to tell me to not get too close! Later we piled as many of the big heater blocks as we could into a little nook beside the kitchen door. Keeping the wood box in the kitchen full was an on going chore.
The sawdust was used for banking the kitchen. In the fall the house was banked with whatever was available-even manure or snow. The stove pipes were cleaned earlier ready for the time when we first lit the heater. A large folding three sided metal frame that was fitted with asbestos sheets kept the surrounding area from getting too hot. Much later we learned of the danger of this substance. A few heater blocks were kept near for stoking in the night. I sometimes would waken to hear Mom putting a block in.
After chores and a warm breakfast (Mom did not drink coffee and as children we all drank tea with milk) we donned our heavy winter clothing and boots that had been warming by the heater. Often our lunches were frozen by the time we got to school. The only time I ever felt apprehensive was when an imminent storm made us rush home from school to get the barn chores done and extra wood to the house.
Mom was concerned not only with our warmth and comfort but did everything she could to keep the animals comfortable. Our dog Mike slept on an old coat behind the kitchen stove and Fluff, the only cat allowed in the house, knew how to find the comfortable spots. All the barn animals with their shaggy winter coats were kept inside through the day in the most severe weather. The barn was old and drafty in places and Mom did all she could to cover or chink up the cracks. The barn always seemed quite cosy when we checked at night with the barn cats sleeping on the backs of the cows.
The chicken house was not insulated. It was well banked with straw or manure but the cold was so hard on the chickens. Mom often made a warm mash heated on the back of the stove for them. Sometimes the tips of their combs would freeze and they stopped laying eggs. Once I found a frozen egg and Mom thawed it and used it for baking a cake. The pigs usually had a big straw stack to burrow under. Sometimes we had to put them in a loose box in the barn for the winter and it was not easy to chase pigs!
The evenings after the chores were done and supper over were pleasant as the house would be quite warm and we could sit around listening to the radio or reading. The bedrooms were colder and we hurried into bed knowing that Mom would be tending the fires in the night. One night I wakened to see her standing at the west window. There was a strange glow in the sky and she said, “Look, the Roy house is on fire.“ It was an awesome and frightening feeling as a large family lived there but they were all safe.
Much later I realized what my mother’s thoughts must have been as she watched this house “go up like a paper box,” thinking of our own little home. Now I know the courage and resourceful that was needed to keep her family safe and warm through another winter.
