Dec. 07, 2007 - 21:24 MST

A MATTER OF COMFORT

Thinking back to when I was a child and winter demanded the utmost in warm clothing I can easily see how good we of the present day have it.

Seems to me that as a child most automobiles had no heaters, using the trolleys entailed waiting curbside with the wind whistling around our shanks until, half frozen, we mounted the car that was ill heated shivering all the way home.

Wool clothing was supposed to be the answer to all ills of shiveryness. But not so for me, I was sensitive to wool contact, don't know if it would be called allergy or not, but the extreme itching from wool contacting my body was torturous. But over time soft, thick and warm clothing came to me, little by little, mufflers of fine fabric, jackets of sheepskin and such things.

Nowadays the dependability of automobiles has led us all into risky behavior.

Various safety organizations urge us to have blankets, heavy clothing and such somewhere easily accessible in our car when we are out traveling. How often though I have seen folks jump out of a car in their shirt sleeves to go into a convenience store out in the boonies and asking if they have warm winter clothing in their car are treated like an idiot. Their car is their protection and their castle of warmth undeniably dependable in all circumstances.

Gee when I was a kid, warmth and comfort were treasures, valued above anything else when cold weather was among us. Summer's heat was as nothing to us kids. Too many ways to get comfortable, shedding clothes, seeking shade, the old swimming hole among other things which included going downtown to the movie show where cool air was provided to the audience. But winter time was a matter of us all insuring our survival by doing our part in supplying heat to wherever we were. I remember how proud I was when I was allowed to bust up lumps of coal for our stove. Dad got the big lumps cheaper, and that was important too. Later a bit I was trained, watched and then allowed to empty the ashes out into our ashpit from the stove, taught how to bank the fire to give a little heat for a long time while we were away and the height of trust was when I was allowed to bank the fire in our house for the night to give Dad something to bring warmth to bodies when we were just out of bed.

Nowdays seems like no labor or trouble is entailed, just the cash to buy a reliable car (something we didn't have back then) and pay the house heating bill. Heh, though, heating fuel and transportation fuel costs are climbing so high, perhaps we approach living in the old days once again.

Its just A MATTER OF COMFORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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