"Tell Me Bout the Good Ole Days"

So far the 2011-2012 winter has been kind...temperatures above normal, a couple small snowfalls but today, Friday 13, 2012 ole man winter has served notice---temperatures dropped to about 20 degrees and maybe 4 inches of snow.  Around Thanksgiving 2011,  I purchased a snowblower--a first for me after all these years of shoveling--I've used it twice and man it's a bigtime back saver.  Also the snowplows have run continuously and salted the highways so the main highways.  Needless to say it was business as usual--meaning it did not deter one from traveling and good or bad we are almost daily customers of Starbucks, which is located in Princeton--some 15 miles away so the snow and cold wind chilled day means we still have our White Chocolate Moca--iced for me, same for my wife except hot, and today Chai Tea Latte for my son.


I could not help but recall in my youthful days how my family spent the day on a similar temperature day but 4 inches of snow I don't recall---it seemed like when winter started there was snow on the ground everday and 4 inches of snow--well it was more like anywhere from a low of 12 inches to 24 inches.  This was in the 1950s so to compare snow removal equipment then to today is like comparing a Ford to a Rolls Royce--and another big difference was the abundance of snow removal equipment which was at a minimum--especially in the area of graders and dozers which was required due to the high frequency of drifting snow on the graveled or dirt roads which were the type roads people lived on the rural roads of Pocahontas County, West Virginia.  Most of the roads followed alongside a creek or running at the base of a mountain--which the elevation at peak is 3988 ft.


Now that you have the feel of the geography where I was reared, our family prepared ourselves for the coming winter beginning as early as spring.  Preparing the soil, planting, and harvesting our food were spring, summer and fall tasks as for the most part we were self substaining from a food standpoint except for basic supplies such as flour, spices and a few other sundries.  So what did our family do on a snowed in day or should I say for the most part--snowed in days.  Well we didn't head out down the highway to Starbucks for a special coffee--never heard of special coffees and it didn't exist anyway--maybe NEW YORK CITY!!  We just accepted the fact that we were stuck--sometimes for a week or two weeks, no tv just a radio and maybe a game of fox and geese which was drawn up on a piece of cardboard by my grandad (better known as Pap) and a button was used to represent the fox and kernels of corn were used for geese (played much like chinese checkers) As for getting dug out we had to wait our turn--as it would take a grader and in a lot of cases a big dozer to clear the secondary road to our home--our road had about 9-10 families living on it and there were hundreds of little secondary roads in the county.  We would wait on "Jake",  one of a few dozer or grader operators who operate this equipment--we would call him and he was kind enough to say "I'll be up your way on such and such a day"--you accepted that and was appreciative no matter how long the wait.  Think about it--in today's time--people would be up in arms--burning up the phones and complaints galore would be clogging the Internet.


During the wait to be able to reconnect with the rest of the community we would be content in keeping the fire (in our heating stoves) going, play some games, tend to our dairy cows, hogs, horses, chickens, and sheep, and treat ourselves to some special and there was nothing better than some things we had put away for winter months.  We had picked delicious apples and pears from our orchard in the fall and had wooden bins built beside our home adjacent to the garden area.  To protect the apples for the winter months we would line the bins with leaves then place the apples in the bins with a deep layer of leaves on top.  There was nothing any better than digging the snow off the leaves and moving back the leaves and bringing out those apples which were ice cold and as preserved and as delicious as the day they were picked.  Also we might head to the cellar where we would find delicious grape juice which came from grapes grown from the widespread vine which covered one side of our house.  These were Concord grapes which were picked in the fall (had to make sure we got them before the birds helped themselves to a fall treat) and the grapes were canned in pressure sealed jars.  


Well I would be remiss if I didn't mention our most delicious treat--homemade ice cream.  It was most rewarding treat but did require some labor---this was all manual labor--no electric ice cream maker--don't believe they existed.  The ice cream maker consisted of a round wooden barrel (size about 5 gallons) which had an aluminum cylinder which held the ice cream ingredients and the cylinder set in the middle of the barrel and would rotate by the means of an apparatus that attached to the top of the barrel and the apparatus would rotate the cyclinder by means of a crank that extended over the edge of the barrel.  Between the wooden barrel and the cylinder is where the ice would be placed.  Before I further explain the process, there was no store bought premix for the ice cream--this was a mixture of ingredients that only "my granny" knew--a little bit of this and a little bit of that.  As for the ice, we had no abundance of ice so we would go to the creek which was about 100 yds down the hill from our house--the creek was frozen over with ice and we would take the axe and cut chunks of ice and bring it back to the house--then the ice would have to be small enough to go around the inside of the ice cream maker.  Then the labor began--turning the crank which would turn the cylinder cooling the ingredients and then to freezing temperatures thus ice cream.  Turning the crank at first was a breeze but during the latter part of the process a little "rock salt" was added to the ice which would keep the ice from melting maintaining the cold temperatures (I thought salt thawed ice, hmmm) and the cranking would get to be both hands--you didn't dare stop as the cyclinder would freeze up prior to the ice cream getting to a freezing temperature.  Usually after about 45 minutes, everyone eagerly awaited the magic moment--first the cyclinder top came off then the paddles in the cyclinder were pulled out---ice cream galone and while your mouth was watering for even a taste Granny was in charge of scaping the the paddles and cleaning out the cyclinder.  Then the moment arrived a good serving was given to everyone--if there was an Almost Heaven ice cream--this was it--rich and creamy.  We usually made two flavors--vanilla and chocolate--my favorite was chocolate but for some reason in the making it was vanilla first, then chocolate.  


Before we knew it "Jake was on the phone" saying I'll be up your way tomorrow and the next day you could hear the deep roar of the diesel engine of either the grader or dozer heading up the creek as we called it.  Even though the state did not recognize assistance on opening up roads on private property, Jake would usually plow our road up the hill to our house---with all the attention to regulations and liability fears, this kind act like Jake did would not be heard of in today's time.  More than likely in today's time someone would be lurking in the shadows taking photos with their cell phones.  Nothing fancy on our phones but the ability to ring (crank to make the rings)-- the Morse Code like rings to either ring your neighbor on the party line or the Operator to place a long distance call.  


Oh well, we weren't snowed in the entire winter but it sure felt like it.  Anyway this whole story brings to mind a song of recent years which keeps playing in my ears---"Grandpa, tell me bout the good ole days....."
















                           

Life's Great and Birthdays are a Good Thing

Ok it's my first blog.  This is a very important day, at least for me, I was born some 66 years ago on January 11, 1946 at Millpoint, WV which is about 30 miles south of the the now famous ski resort Snowshoe and I am sure on my day of birth it was a cold wintry day with at least two feet on snow on the ground.  My homeplace was at the foot of Kinnison Mountain which was 3988 feet in elevation, thus explaining our winter weather was snow, snow, snow lasting from October to at least the end of March and sometimes a crazy weather pattern coming through as late as May.  Speaking of birthdays my son celebrated his 28th birthday on January 9th and my half brother would have celebrated his 51st birthday on January 10th but he passed away some 5 years ago at an early age due to kidney failure.  However, he had been blessed with a kidney transplant (kidney donated by his step sister) around age 15--was told his kidney would last about 30 years and it was within days of the 30 year mark.


Meanwhile back to present day.  I feel great at age 66 and my wife feels likewise (but at a much younger age), especially since my son will be giving college a try.  He is going to Concord University (my alma mater) for the spring 2012 semester to enroll  in one class in order to get acclimated to the classroom atmosphere and to gain self confidence, etc in the world of higher education.  I am sure after next school year he will be choosing to go to a larger and more reknown university in his chosen field of study but first things first and if chooses to stay or go wherever that will be fine.  Being out of school for some 10 years he is looking forward to getting back into education as he has a high degree of intelligence which needs to be tested and he has an abundance of great ideas which are worthy of being shared and grown with others.


Well I have had a great life to date and can't wait until tomorrow to see what it brings.  So I suppose Lowell Thomas wouldn't mind if I would use his final line of the day--"So long until tomorrow".....