The Deep South is in an Artic freeze early this week. We've had some snow flurries yesterday, and the possibility of sleet and mixed precipitation exist for Wednesday. Tonight a record low temperature of 15 degrees F may fall.
I'm not a friend of the cold. But I know what it was like to live in a cold home, with frozen water pipes.
When I was a young boy, I lived in a clapboard style house from mid 1960's to late 1980's with my parents and younger brother. We had gas heat, but only kept the living room warm, as the house was not insulated. We slept under electric blankets at nights in unheated bedrooms. I would see my breath in the colder mornings there. The kitchen would get heated from the electric stove when we cook meals. However the water pipes often froze as the pipes were made of iron and was not insulated. The bathroom was not heatable. It was nice taking hot baths in the winter time, but one doesn't stand around naked in that cold bathroom before or after! And the "throne" was made of porcelain, with a wooden enameled seat, so one doesn't sit and read while he "toils" on the toilet during the winter.
When the pipes freeze during really cold nights, as the temps fall below 25 F or so. We would go to Mr. Williams' (the landlord) house next door, and haul water in buckets and jugs for drinking, cooking, and sponge baths. All too often, the water would slosh out of the tub and buckets, getting our clothes wet. It was a chore I did not enjoy.
The snow was always nice to look at and play in, although we really didn't get much warmer inside on the few snow days that we get. We made what we call "snow cream" by scooping the top layer of snow off the car and mixing it with canned milk and sugar along with a dash of vanilla flavoring. That was a delicious treat, but it has gave us the ocassional stomach cramps, so we spend some time in the frigid bathroom...
No comments:
Post a Comment