As promised, more winter stories:

I remember when my Dad and Grand Dad used to tell us about how they used to cut ice on the lakes in the winter. It was quite a process and hard work as they cut the blocks of ice with human power on the end of a saw. After chunks of ice were cut, they were put on sleds drawn by horses to transport them to the creameries and other places in town, as there was no refrigeration.

The icehouses usually weren't much to look at, but inside, the blocks of ice were stacked high and wide with sawdust recycled from the saw mill. It is hard to believe that ice could last the entire summer, keeping cream from souring or food from spoiling in ice boxes in homes. 

When the ice man cometh the kids came running to get chips of ice to suck on. The kids wiped the sawdust off on their britches and thought they had a great treat. Come to think of it, the crystal clear ice from the lake was probably more sanitary and chemical-free than some of the water now used.

Grand Dad said when the horses pulled the sleds of ice on the Steele-Waseca County line to the Bath creamery, they had to hook up another team of horses over the hill at the "Sullivan Corners" because it required more than one team of horses to sledge up over the steep hill. Once over the hill, the second team went on to its next destination.

Ice wasn't the only thing hauled by horses in the winter. The farmers had to get their cream to the creamery. 

There weren't snow plows a plenty and they weren't as good as they are now, so roads weren't always open or ready for travel shortly after new fallen snow. My grandpa hauled cream wearing his old sheepskin coat, wool cap with "ear flappers" and woolen mittens inside of leather choppers. The neighbors took turns hauling the milk to the creamery, but grandpa was the furthest north and had to go south to pick up cream cans from the neighbors before he went. 

Often times, it was faster and easier to cross the field rather than use the road. In the spring, there were fences to be repaired before the cattle were "let out to pasture."

Any groceries needed were picked up, as well as the mail, at the same time the cream was hauled to town. Mom remembers the grocery list included staples like oatmeal, yeast, sugar, and flour; the same things people cooked with back in the days of the "chuck wagons." 

Grandpa would often bring home treats, like horehound candy, Smith Brothers cough drops, Christmas candy and chocolate humps, or haystacks, as they were often called, which was Grandpa’s favorite candy. Back at that time, the smell of chocolate made my mom sick, so many of those treats weren't treats to her.

Mom’s favorite candies were hard, red raspberry candies in the Christmas mix and more or less, tasteless ribbon candy. Unless you got a piece of red cinnamon candy, most Christmas candy back then tasted the same — just sweet.

Bestemor, who was my mother’s grandmother, often made the grandkids a can of “pepper nuts,” a cookie, like nuggets, that were hard and peppery. They were a special Christmas treat. Depending on what country your family came from, the recipes were a little different, making them different sizes and more or less peppery.

Great Grandpa Christensen, Bestefar, as he was called by many, always looked forward to when the itinerant "fish man" came door to door in Geneva. His favorite was the dark, skinned herring, neither boned nor skinned. Grandpa kept them frozen until he would use them. Grandma Hanson would leave money and an order of what fish she wanted to buy with Bestefar, as the "fishman" didn't come to their farm.

He also liked cod. It came salted in a little wooden box. Thawed and soaked to get some of the salt out, it was creamed and poured over potatoes. Mom says that the last she knew you can still find it in specialty stores, only the price has greatly changed.

Bestemor was a good cook and Mom remembers Abelskiver, Cistakage, sugar cookies, sweet soup, chicken soup, and dark bread, among other things. Tea and coffee too, with lots of cream and sugar, drank with a spoon sticking up on one side of the cup. My Grandma Hanson drank cocoa the same way: with the spoon in the cup being held there by a thumb. Why? Who knows; habit, I guess.

Getting to school was the best way you knew how, even if it was by horseback. However, there was a "bus sleigh" of sorts, with tarp sides and Eisenglas plastic windows. If you were lucky, there was a foot warmer: heated bricks or stones.

My Aunt Helyn would walk from their farm about a mile and a half to the Gilbert Thorsen farm to catch the bus. Girls didn't wear jeans or long pants to high school back then, but many did wear cotton stockings, long underwear and woolen snow pants.

When my mother started high school, the buses were much smaller than they are now and she only had to walk down to the corner, which was about a quarter of a mile, to get on. She can still remember one time when the bus driver, Johnny Stadheim, turned the bus too short on the corner and got stuck and the kids all had to get out and push!

My dad enjoyed winters, and Mom can remember an old pair of wooden skis he had that he kept in our garage after we moved to Geneva. Evidently, they were too handy, and one day they disappeared. Dad also had a pair of snowshoes, while Mom and Dad lived at St. Olaf Lake. Mom said that they were hard to walk in, and they disappeared, too. My dad liked to try his hand at making fun little projects from time to time. He made a pair of ice grippers out of those metal brackets that they used to use on the joints when they made rafters. 

He used them while trying to get around on the ice. Many times, Dad was a little bit ahead of the times. Too bad he didn't market them; he may have become a rich man.

Mom also talks about one winter when they got so much snow that Henry Langie’s weren't able to get their door open from the inside. As a result, the boys went upstairs and opened one of the windows and were able to ski down the roof of their house. (Mike Marcus now lives were Henry Langlie lived back then, which was south and west of Ellendale, but the house has changed.)

My mother said that she had a picture of Bernice Thompson, who is Lois Johnson Aitchison’s mother, skiing behind the horse. Leighton Langlie and Howard Langlie got pretty good at this event as well and they would travel on down the road, as well as up and down in the neighborhood ditches, behind their horses too.

I can think of many years when we had epic snowstorms like those described by the "old-timers" and also years when we've had little snow. Since records have been kept, snowfall averages haven't changed much. 

That begs the question, "Has there been a change in the winters, or is it the fact that we are better able to deal with them now?" New and bigger equipment is a consideration, but nature is stronger than our ability to handle all she throws at us. If we do get "the big one," (snowstorm), we'll deal with it just like our rural relatives did: we'll stay at home, do some baking, take a nap, stay warm, find ways to entertain ourselves, and deal with it when it blows itself out.

Birthdays and Anniversaries:

• Thursday, March 21st: Amy Foster, John Krell, Doris Krause, Trent Steven Pence, Kelly Marie Dobberstein, Phillip Ingvaldson, Pam Farr, Kent Paulson, Diane Marlin, Kelly Nelson, Glea Hyland, Doris Krause, Brody Grunwald, Darrell & Cindy Farr.

• Friday, March 22nd: National Goof Off Day! Gordy Carroll, Brenna Lynn Hagen, Shannon Johnson, Karin Lieberg, Bob Sommers, Leah Elaine Bergerson, Jerry Peterson, Nancy & Jerry Walterman, Dennis & Glenda Blouin.

• Saturday, March 23rd: Chris Newgard, Penny Obermoller, Alan Edwardson, Troy Johnson, Troy Wagner, Jason Dwight, Alexi Jo Kitzer, Alex Dobberstein, Delaney Sue Vander Syde, Alexander James Thompson, Peter Bergerson, Chris Rutheford, Phyllis Anderson, Glea & DeLores Hyland, Rick & Liz Wangsness.

• Sunday, March 24th: Gail Ottesen, Seth Chad Staloch, Dave Meixner, Kurt Hanson, Laurie Phagan, Lucetta Kermes, Wes & Ruth Neidermeier, Angie & Cory Klemmensen, Tony & Sandra Tonsing, Lonna & Dean Broitzman

• Monday, March 25th: Brad Hagen, Michelle Ritz, Pam Anderson, Faith Jensen, Tom Marlin, Trevor Loverink, Bernice Farr Mattson.

• Tuesday, March 26th: Nikita Zelpha Peterson, Mary Lou Faldat, Jackie Draayer, David Hanson, Ray Coxworth, Lonnie Misgen, Ginger Cornelius, Dillon Hanson, Daryl Jensen, Duane Morreim, Amy Dobberstein, Marge Wobschall, Mary Lou Spurr, Gerrit & Jean Molenaar, Jeff & Robin Christensen, Jennifer & Matthew Dinneen.

• Wednesday, March 27th: Kim Weckwerth Farr, Jim Ottesen, Verona Winegar, Tom Lund, Tina Jensen Wangen, Jodi Loverink, Neil Born, Ralph Randall, Todd & Sheri Utpadel, Wes & Julie Schroenrock.

It is your special day, get carried away.