When February 6th finally came, and it was time to go back to school, we had a strong west wind, blowing snow — and our thermometer read eleven degrees below zero. Mother decided to keep us home. The next day it was minus 32 degrees … and then minus 38 the day after. Not only did she decide to continue our vacation, but she went back to getting up at night to feed the fires, and keeping a pile of wood two feet high in the kitchen at all times, just like daddy had done over his Christmas visit. Piled with every quilt we owned plus the cowhide robe, we all three slept in the big bed — with mother in the middle.
Staying at home was not a vacation however — not with a high school teacher mother. We had a full schedule of regular classes and assignments. As we read about other parts of the country or foreign ports, she had us locate them on one of our maps, or look up more information in my geography book. John and I extended the lessons by setting up a post office, and delivering mail to all the new places, with toy airplanes made out of matchboxes.
Despite our distractions, we missed Daddy … all the time…. “We wish we were all together, either here or there. It gets more lonesome all the time,” Mother wrote, “As John says, everything would be all right if only Daddy was here too.” One day when she was feeling particularly depressed, she suggested that we move in with him, so that John and I could go to school in Minneapolis for the rest of the term.
But by the next morning her mood had changed. “The children made out an order for seeds. Ruth wants to try to raise peanuts and John is going in for peas. It won’t be long until garden planting time is here; if we keep busy the days pass quickly. And you are doing the most important thing of all, earning money so we can keep this farm…” And not long after that, “I wish we could put in the crop ourselves this year. Couldn’t you look around and find an old Fordson tractor? That wouldn’t need any stable or care and if necessary I could run it. It has been a long cold winter.”
She had her spiritual concerns too. “We are reading the Bible quite regularly. The children like it and I think it does us all good. I wish you would think of such things and pray once in a while for we surely need a higher wisdom to give us courage to carry on now. I know it means a lot to me and when we get together again I hope we will all be closer together in spirit and be able to build a happy home, for that is the biggest thing in life.” She inaugurated our own Sunday school, having us learn parts of the Bible, starting with the Ten Commandments and the 23rd Psalm….
John, already showing his technical bent, measured the snow in our yard at 21 1/2 inches. But our heroic mailman always got through — even when no other cars had passed our house since the previous snow. Although the first time, he had to shovel his way through a drift on Jenson’s hill — he never missed a day. He altered his vehicle for the winter by putting ski-like runners on front and cleated tractor wheels in back.
I know his consideration for us went far beyond any post office requirements. One frigid Saturday he waited in Park Rapids to start his route until after a second train came in, thinking there might be a package for us with food in it that could freeze in the unheated baggage room over the weekend. He suggested we tell daddy to send us perishables in the early part of the week.
One day John and I decided to go into professional practice as doctor and dentist, respectively. Our major problem was a limited supply of patients. Mother cooperated by developing a variety of ills and arriving for all of her office appointments on time — having her teeth cleaned, a tooth extraction, heart trouble and a finger in need of bandaging. She was so satisfied with our services, however, that she asked us to stay for supper and then offered to provide us with room and board. After reviewing our options, we gratefully accepted.
Then I asked her to be my assistant for an operation on Betty June, to repair a damaged voice box and cure her sleeping sickness (At that point, she was mute and, regardless of position, her eyes remained closed.) During the surgery we discovered a darning needle lodged in the eye mechanism — which John admitted having inserted out of boyish curiosity. The treatment for both conditions was successful and the patient made a full recovery — saying “Mama” and opening her eyes….
Mother also helped us set up a laundry for washing and ironing some of Betty June’s clothes, writing to Daddy, “It’s kind of a nuisance but keeps them busy and contented as it is something they think up themselves.”
When the cold snap eased, we trudged off to school again, using a shortcut across the frozen muddy slough we had always avoided in milder weather. Not realizing that, by now, it was so thoroughly frozen it would have supported a truck, I gingerly ventured out on the ice with considerable foreboding. Its windswept jet black surface bore no resemblance to lake ice. To me it looked eerily unsafe — as though it might suddenly crack open and swallow us up in its murky depths. Eventually however, I appreciated the faster route….
John was soon back to boredom at school, and conflict with Miss Eula — who sent a note to Mother saying he could not attend unless he behaved himself. Mother was a bit amused by the ultimatum in view of their previous legal notice about compulsory attendance laws and threatening a fine — or jail time. She kept us both home rather than having me walk to and from school alone. Naturally, this provoked another letter from the Superintendent concerning my absence. In the meantime, Daddy had ordered a copy of John’s school records, verifying that he had been a model student in Minneapolis. Mother sent these to the Superintendent, continuing our class regimen at home while waiting for his response.
Shortly after that we lost our water supply when the pump malfunctioned, leaving us dependent on Shaws for water again, until Wesley Shaw came to help with repairs. John and I hovered close by watching him work, besieging him with questions and chattering away throughout his visit. This dour Norwegian must never have experienced such intense animated conversation before, and was, as Mother described in her letter, “flabbergasted” at our talkativeness.
The work took him about an hour, but when Mother asked him how much he charged for the service, he told her he would wait and “settle-up” when Daddy came up the next time — his way of saying it was just neighborly assistance.
His repair solved the immediate problem, but created another one, which resulted in the pump freezing. Mother discovered the most pragmatic way to thaw the pump every day so that we could get our water; she wrapped the top of the pump near the spout in kerosene-soaked rags — and set it on fire. It worked like a charm. We had to thaw it every day, which rapidly used up our scarce rags and valuable kerosene. Rather than ask Mr. Shaw to work on it again though, she decided to wait for Daddy’s next visit.
We all hoped that would be around March 12 … Mother wrote, “John’s birthday comes the 12th, what shall we do about it?…I know he wants an angel food cake so I shall save eggs for that. It takes 11 eggs, and you might get some small candles too, blue ones if you can. We’ll hide the packages and make him hunt for them.” Daddy was not there for the party, but he sent John a flashlight and new overalls, and included a dozen eggs in the box so that Mother could make his cake.
After the party she wrote, “You had sent butter earlier and we had a fine dinner, roast beef and gravy, mashed potatoes, angel food cake and strawberry sauce. We opened the last can for John’s birthday as we had nothing else for dessert. We had a real little party all by ourselves, played games, and the children made prizes for the winner. John was real pleased with his presents and uses his flashlight to go out after dark and to go down into the basement.”
And, with my usual precise spelling, I wrote, “We wish you could have been here to see John’s birthday cake… We stuffed John’s new overhalls and hung ’em up, and pinned the card on the seat of em. It’s thawing to beat 60 up here, thers hardly any more snow except in places where thers been drifts….”