Friday's Memories

Good morning on a cold morning. Our outdoor thermometer says 31 degrees in a sheltered patio but I am sure it is much colder in the wind. Glad I'm inside where it is warm and thank goodness for central heat and a fresh cup of coffee. Come on over and have a cup. As I sit here, I remember how we heated our house as I was growing up.

When we were children after I was 6, we moved into our own house we built. It was 4 rooms with a central hall and bathroom with a front kitchen for mama. She said because she spent the majority of her time in that room she wanted it on the front so she could see the comings and goings. It was a great idea and that was our kitchen, eating area, den and all purpose room.

We had one big coal heater in the central hall, so I guess you could say we had central heating! Each fall a big dump truck would show up from Birmingham with a load of coal which would usually last all winter. Daddy would build a fire in that big stove and it would heat the whole house. Now remember though, we shut the living room door for that room was always kept immaculate for honored guests. One of the bedrooms was real big so that was bedroom, playroom and sitting room. Remember also that this was the olden days and didn't have TV and didn't need a TV room.

At night he would "bank" the heater, shut the damper and it would stay slightly warm most of the night so that in the morning, real early, daddy would get up, add kindling and restart the fire with more coal. I'm sure, although I don't really remember, he would jump back in the bed to stay warm until the hall and kitchen warmed up.

When we had to get out from under those warm quilts to get ready for school, we would run on our tippy toes to the hall and huddle around the warmth of that big ole stove while we dressed. Of course mama would have a big, hot breakfast waiting for us and we would all be warm by then.

At night after bath time, we would put on our flannel pajamas, hold a big blanket up to the stove to warm it, wrap it around ourselves and run on our tippy toes to the bed and jump in. The blanket would keep us warm until we got our "spot" warm and then off to sleep. The bad part was when you would stretch your feet out and hit a cold spot - freeze your toes. Of course, you jerked them back onto a warm spot or stuck them to your brother and hear him holler.

We sure were glad to have that big ole coal stove for many of our friends just had a fireplace and it didn't put out nearly as much heat as our coal stove. Why you could back up close to that big old black stove, hike up your skirt in the back and warm your backside good. Not sure why I thought if my rear was warm I would be warm all over. However we were kind of glad when we put in gas heaters in all the rooms. We knew we had hit the jackpot!

Now I'm sure many of you think we were poor and deprived but no way. That little house held more love than any palace in the world and the warmth and love we had for each other kept the cold away at least from our hearts anyway but not from our backsides.

Nuff said,
The Georgia Peach