Wednesday January 30, 2019

Wednesday January 30, 2019

Blog time 1730 sitting in office

Boy was it ever cold this morning.  The temperature was -4 with a wind chill of -27.  BRR!

Took Ms P out at 0630 and noted that our drive had been plowed over night.  Good news.

All the schools are closed.  Breakfast Club was cancelled as was our evening class at Trinity Lutheran.  

I was going to bundle up and walk to Panera but since the drive was plowed, I drove.  Good thing Panera was closed.  I continued on and had breakfast at Bob Evan’s.  Had my usual breakfast, oatmeal, coffee, bread and banana.  Bob Evan’s has great oatmeal.  They also have Cornmeal Mush on the menu.  Remember Cornmeal Mush?  A winter standard in the Scott house.

After breakfast I drove to the Ford dealer.  My low tire pressure light was on.  The Ford place was empty.  A mechanic checked all my tires and they were all 10 psi low.  He said a common occurrence in very cold weather.

Next stop was Meijer’s.  I bought shaving lotion, wine and sugar free oatmeal cookies.  I also mailed a package and bought Nancy a lottery ticket.

At home did some reduced, 50%, calisthenics and rowed 1k.  Showered and then lunch.

Being Wednesday I took out the trash and did a load of laundry before taking a nap.  The temperature has remained below 0 all day.

It snowed all day so every time I take Ms P out I shovel.  Our Direct TV went off air this afternoon.  I grabbed a shovel and broom and headed to the deck.  I shoveled a path to the dish and broomed it off.  It worked the TV responded.

No deer yesterday so the corn I had set out was now snow covered.  I grabbed a shovel and dug out the corn and added new corn.  We had about 15” of snow in the back yard. 

We had our afternoon apple snack before a light dinner.  After dinner and Nancy’s cheese snack we watched the final episode of “The Five”.  Good show.  It was -4 when took Ms P out for the last time.  The cold weather continues through Friday.

Memories of Winters of my youth:

I can remember only one time the schools in Alpena were closed because of weather.  I was in the Second Grade and had walked to school.  The Janitor told me school was closed.  

I texted my Sister if she could remember any time the schools were closed.  She said the schools were never closed.  Some times the buses from the surrounding Townships would be delayed but no closure.

During the winter months all little boys wore long underwear called union suits.  We took one bath a week, Saturday night.  We did not have a dedicated water heater so Mother would add a tea kettle of boiling water to the bath water.  I always left a ring around the tub.  Sunday morning I would put on a clean union suit.

In the sixth grade we had gym several days a week and after class a shower was required.  Our teachers were probably glad for the showers.

Street snow removal consisted of just plowing, no road salt.  Sand was put on the major streets.  The local streets had a layer of packed snow.  

All cars had bumpers.  A popular sport was while a car was stopped to sneak up and grab hold of the bumper, squat and let the moving car pull you.  Great sport until you got caught.  One day for some unknown reason I was nice to my sister and let her hang on to me while I grabbed a bumper.  We just got started sliding down the street when the driver noticed us.  He stopped and I had to grab Helen and run for it.  Luckily we did not get caught.  Helen was also nice enough not to tell the parents.  If they knew I would be in deep trouble.  

My Great Grandfather Sanborn wrote on 27JAN 1938 that it was below zero all day.  He was home bound.  For exercise GGF walked 6,000 feet on the stairs.  Even in 1938 the family knew the importance of exercise.

Of course outside activities were important.  I loved playing hockey and skating.  The City was great in providing outdoor ice rinks.  No sissy indoor rinks.

I did have a pair of slip on skis that I used primarily on the hills of my Grandparent’s farm.  In my teenage years I would borrow snow shoes from my Dad’s office and go rabbit hunting.

Indoor activities consisted of listening to the radio and reading comic books.  A lot of my friends were into building model planes.  No my thing.

Winters were fun.