The thermometer tells me it’s twenty degrees this morning and Lights of the Ozarks are on at the Fayetteville town square so really and truly, if Christmas is just around the corner, I might as well face it. Winter is here! We have snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow. The children, at least, will be ecstatic to see that white, fluffy stuff cover the ground. And, to face this winter weather, I am fortifying myself with my first cup of caramel drizzle coffee. A good way to start the day!
My mother told me many stories of her childhood, as you know, and I was fortunate enough to put them into two books, The Heritage of Etta Bend and Remembering Etta Bend. For some reason, I woke up this morning and thought about the story she told me of the time pigs came to school. This is from Remembering Etta Bend. The time is around 1916 and the words are my mother’s, Susie Latty Day:
“Children walked to (Etta) school. In warm weather this worked fine, but when winter set in, getting to school was sometimes a challenge for those who lived some distance away. I remember a particular winter day that began cold and got worse. We bundled into coats and caps and hurried to school through a howling north wind that carried a freezing mist with it.
“At recess time, the mist still fell. We children dashed out for a breath of air then rushed back to the stove, rubbing our red knuckles and stinging cheeks.
“Noon came and the cold took a firmer grip. Tree limbs rattled and windows iced over. We ate our lunches at our desks. The weather kept us in so someone thought of playing, ‘Cross Questions and Silly Answers’. Two people chose sides. One group sat in a row facing the second group. The leader of the first group whispered a question into the ear of each of her team. The second group’s captain whispered answers to his players. Then the player of the first team asked the question he had been given to the person directly across from him. That person responded with her answer. Of course, answers did not match questions and the sillier it all sounded, the better everyone liked it. Next, we played ‘Upset the Fruit Basket’ and got so noisy we drowned out the click of ice against the windows.
“The stove did its best but by one o’clock, the warmth around it had narrowed. Our teacher let us scoot our desks closer to the heater. She announced that since we did not have a morning recess and would have none in the afternoon either, we would be dismissed early.
“I opened my book and lost myself in a world of words. The ice tapping at the window and the warmth of the fire wrapped the room in sleepy silence.
“Suddenly, a devilish squeal rent the quiet. I jumped. We looked at each other. More snorts, squeals, and thumps seemed to come from right under my feet. What was going on?
“The teacher and some of the older boys ran to the door. The rest of us crowded behind them. In the yard, trying to scoot under the high front porch was a herd of cold hogs. The weather had driven them from their open range foraging and they were seeking shelter. What a relief that those other-world noises had a down-to-earth explanation. We laughed at those snuffling, shoving pigs.
“The teacher told us to go home before the storm became a blizzard. We set out through the stinging cold. No time now to visit with friends. My thoughts centered around reaching our warm living room and that crackling fireplace. Maybe Mama had baked gingerbread and we could have some leftover coffee to drink with cream and sugar. I couldn’t wait to tell Mama and Papa about the hogs. They had really brightened a winter day.”
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