We just experienced the end of another year and nostalgia seems to always sneak in. We think of the all the years behind us, and what might have been.
I look out the window at the snow and I am more than satisfied with the light covering. My mother recently told me about the snowstorms that she experienced growing up.
Her stories make me glad that I didn't have to experience them or live through them. I am also glad that I am able to live inside a nice warm house.
My mother said that somewhere she has a picture of my Grandpa Hanson’s aunt who was visiting our family one winter while she was growing up. Before Aunt Emily left, she wanted to climb the huge snow bank that was packed between the house and barn on my grandparents’ farm.
The snow bank was high enough so one could barely see the barn roof and hard enough to walk on. In fact, the snow was packed so hard that it took a big Caterpillar tractor to remove it.
Climbing to the top of the snow pile was not an easy task as my mother said, and she went on to say that Aunt Emily was a tough, good-sized elderly lady. Aunt Emily finally did make it all the way to the top and had her picture taken sitting on top of the snow pile.
Mom also says that the road between the old Dr. Ertel farm, which is where Bob Swearingen lives now, and my Grandpa's farm, which were south and west of Ellendale, had a short piece of hill that often tried to mimic Donner’s pass. The neighborhood men and boys had to shovel a path for the old snow plow so that it could make it through all the snow. The operator of the snowplow hit that big snow pile so hard he had bloodshot eyes.
My Grandpa Schember used to plow snow in Waseca County. We have the pictures of snowdrifts that were up over the telephone wires with my Grandpa George standing on the top.
The winds that blew the snow back then must have been really long and hard. They had some terrible blizzards back in that time period. I am sure that many of them laugh at what we call a blizzard today.
The Armistice Day Storm that occurred on November 11 will always be a story that is talked about. The storm started out on as a nice, sunny day that quickly developed into havoc. For that matter, the Halloween storm of ice and snow that we had here in our area back in 1991 demobilized us for a few days and then some.
Winter arrives and reminds us that we live in Minnesota. Not that winter isn't expected, and that there aren't people who look forward to the many sports that can only be played in the cold and snow, it does surprise us from time to time.
It also seems like there are those who no longer want to see winter arrive and they are able to head for warmer temperatures and enjoy a different part of the US for a few months.
There is a plus side: that fresh, cool, clean air cannot be duplicated anywhere else, so we may as well enjoy it. When the snow is blowing around, all we can do is dream ahead to spring when we can get back out in the garden and see the green grass again and think about the dozens things we put off until spring and summer come.
Something did come to mind recently about how technology did a good job with an invention of insulated type gear that keeps one warm without bundling one up like the abominable snowman.
There were no “thinsulated” snowsuits and gear - not even Carrhart back in those early years. Long johns or underwear was the first layer many people would put on; wool, if you could handle it without itching.
Socks, too, were often wool and probably layered, to boot. A pair of jeans and then a pair of bib overalls, flannel shirts and lined overall jackets.
Most of the farmers wore yellow gloves that had to be changed often, as they got wet easily. Some wore leather "chopper" mitts over their regular gloves, which helped keep their hands dry and warm. And then there were the wool caps with ear "flappers." (Do they even make them anymore?)
For the big day or the trips to town, it was the sheepskin overcoat, a long and bulky and canvas-like material that stopped the wind. Most people also wore woolen scarves to cover their necks and face if you faced the wind. Straw was put in the sleigh to help soften the ride a bit and a tanned horsehide blanket was placed over quilts for those travels in the sleigh.
Once again, my grandpa comes to mind. He would wear a sheepskin coat, long and cumbersome, wool socks and underwear, head and hand gear, heavy woolen shirts and double the pairs of pants to try and keep warm.
Most kids went to school in wool snowsuits, and they weren't pink and blue and made from slippery, shiny material like they are today. When they got wet and had to be dried, the wool smelled something terrible. Mom said there was one good thing about drying all those wet clothes — it put moisture in the house.
The kids wore boots or buckle overshoes that reached almost to their knees. It is funny that kids could even move with all those layers of clothes they had on.
Once the scarf was wrapped around the face and the gloves were on, and they were ready to head out the door to play, then they would more than likely have to make a "pit stop" before heading out the door and have to go through the whole process of getting dressed up to withstand the cold weather all over again.
Women, bless their stylish souls; they may have worn men’s jeans for chores sometimes, but when they were going to town or to church, they wore skirts with long cotton stockings. Coats were usually quite warm as well.
Sweaters were a must. When the school board banned girls from wearing long pants to school, wool skirts, long cotton stockings were pulled on over lumpy underwear.
I will continue my story about those "good old winter days of old" in next week’s edition.
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Birthdays and Anniversaries:
• Thursday, January 24th: Morgan Sophia Luhring, her 8th; Renee Polzin, Greg Menefee, Mary Cunningham, Trevor Tracy.
• Friday, January 25th: Calvin Thomas VanderStoep, his 4th, Sophia Mabel Olivia Mrotz, Max Thomas Powers Brekke, his 6th; Emma Meiners, her 5th; Paula Olson, Vernon Simonson, Lana Thompsen, Troy Phagan, Ladawn Hatch.
• Saturdday, January 26th: Andilynn Leigh Knudson, her 4th; Russell Nelson, Bonnie Peterson, Pat Reese Ceplecha, Linda Oldenburg, Angela Borchert, Donna Borchert Knudson, Amanda Abel.
• Sunday, January 27th: Anna Mae Lee, Jon Berg, Linda Davis, Nancy Ingvaldson, Paul Larkin, Keegan Brighton, Myrtle Peterson, Ken & Waynette Peterson, Bruce & Rose Ann Kubicek.
• Monday, January 28th: Brian Brekke, Kevin Stieglbauer, Kalei Wilson, Caleb Brocker, Ruth Paulson, Denise McGowan, Rachel Schei, Lona Berg.
• Tuesday, January 29th: Molly Jo Wayne, her 5th Jalen Aaseth, Rick Seath, Andrea (Hanson) Carter, George Dettman, his 83rd, Kim (Harpel) Johnson, Zenobia Haberman, Stephanie Jensen.
• Wednesday, January 30th: Alice Richards, Allison Grunwald, Renae Wallace, Trudy Nelson, Cody Boverhuis, Dennis Jensen, Jeanette Fetterly, Michael Robinson, Scott Morreim, Wally Wobschall, Missy (Wayne) & Sean Engel, their 4th, Paul & Diane Stollard.
May your special day be a happy memory and tomorrow a bright new promise.
