This Time of Year

My friend

Mary said it was 62 degrees and raining. That was yesterday where she lived. We had no school here. We had snow and wind, and cold temperatures. My brother-in-law had an evening picture up with three sun dogs.

Sun dogs are winter rainbows through the ice and snow in the frigid cold sky. Imagine the sun as in the above picture with a rainbow or as in last night's sky, three rainbows.

It is beautiful, but you know it's cold, and three at once is beyond cold. These are often best viewed from inside the house with a nice warm cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

Memories. When I was a wee child we heated with wood only. Houses didn't have the amount of insulation then as they have now, most houses had no insulation, and the heat source was limited.

I would have called our house a two story house, but it was technically a story and a half. We had two chimneys. One was in what we called the dining room, and the other chimney was in the living room.

There was a floor vent in the ceilings above each stove for the heat to rise. The stove in the dining room was below my grandparent's bedroom and during the winter heating season it was always open.

The stove in the living room was below the kids bedroom. Our vent was closed all year round. There were two reasons for this arrangement. Older people always need the warmer temperatures. Younger people, on the other hand, need to learn to be tough.

I don't know at what age the wood was changed for heating oil. My sister and I were probably with our mom when the transition was made, or...

At the end of winter the wood stove would be taken out, the chimney cleaned, and there was a bit more room in both rooms. With the oil the stoves were left inside all year round as I remember it.

Memories—some are good even in the valleys. At one time (as an adult) I was looking for a horse. As my cousin reminded me how could my children grow up without horses? We were at a farmer's market and someone brought puppies.

Our oldest son wanted one of the puppies, but we already had a dog. The rule was only one dog at a time. I tried to tell my husband every child needed their own dog. We had six kids and that would mean six dogs.

He didn't fall for that one. No, he said, our kids would all have to share the same dog. Only one dog at a time.

But our son wanted a puppy so bad. They were rather endearing critters. And by the end of that farmer's market the people had only one left. Of course they would probably have to take it to a shelter, or...

So we ended up with a puppy. I told son, 'Now you keep him on the back porch here until I break the news to your dad'.

So, Old Fuzzy (who was only thirty at the time) pulls in under the tree with our old '46 pickup and turns the motor off. I walked up to the window, but before I got much more than the word 'hi' out of my mouth, our son and puppy come barreling off the porch.

The first words out of Old Fuzzy's mouth? "What is that?" To which I answer, as I hand him the puppy is, "It's a puppy."

The foolish pup not being taught in etiquette didn't know it wasn't good to wee on your people. Maybe he just thought he was marking his territory. Regardless we named him Bear and since my grandpa needed a dog he ended up with a dog named Hey Boy.

What's that to do with finding a horse? That's a story for next time...

Psalms 2:6 "Yet I have set my king Upon my holy hill of Zion. 7) I will tell of the decree: Jehovah said unto me, Thou art my son; This day have I begotten thee.

8) Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9) Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. 10) Now therefore be wise, O ye kings: Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11) Serve Jehovah with fear, And rejoice with trembling."