1
00:00:06,473 --> 00:00:08,141
?

2
00:00:18,485 --> 00:00:21,054
Winter
is like a great river

3
00:00:22,556 --> 00:00:26,593
always the same,
but constantly changing

4
00:00:26,660 --> 00:00:30,230
each winter
resembling the one before

5
00:00:30,731 --> 00:00:32,866
but each like no other.

6
00:00:34,668 --> 00:00:38,572
Winter is the season
that demands respect

7
00:00:39,506 --> 00:00:41,041
insists on it.

8
00:00:41,108 --> 00:00:44,511
It is a season
that refuses to be ignored.

9
00:00:44,578 --> 00:00:47,581
Winter is a season
that never leaves us.

10
00:00:47,648 --> 00:00:50,551
It is forever
a part of who we are

11
00:00:52,319 --> 00:00:54,821
what we believe
and value

12
00:00:54,888 --> 00:00:57,124
and how
we see the world.

13
00:01:01,161 --> 00:01:03,730
I don't think
I really understood

14
00:01:03,797 --> 00:01:07,467
and was able
to put into words at the time

15
00:01:08,335 --> 00:01:11,572
but when I was
growing up on the farm

16
00:01:12,372 --> 00:01:16,376
everything that we did
in spring, summer and fall

17
00:01:16,443 --> 00:01:18,545
was done
because of winter

18
00:01:18,612 --> 00:01:20,747
and in preparation
for winter.

19
00:01:20,814 --> 00:01:22,482
Everything

20
00:01:22,816 --> 00:01:25,285
from planting
the oat crop

21
00:01:25,352 --> 00:01:28,355
to getting the chicks
in spring.

22
00:01:29,857 --> 00:01:32,893
All of that,
all of those activities

23
00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:36,430
were done because
we knew winter was coming.

24
00:01:36,496 --> 00:01:38,832
Winter meant
we had to have available

25
00:01:38,899 --> 00:01:40,901
for the livestock
and the chickens

26
00:01:40,968 --> 00:01:43,637
sufficient feed to last
throughout the winter months.

27
00:01:43,704 --> 00:01:45,372
For the family

28
00:01:45,672 --> 00:01:48,075
we knew we
had to have a garden.

29
00:01:48,141 --> 00:01:50,210
We knew that
we had to raise some hogs

30
00:01:50,277 --> 00:01:52,212
that could be butchered
in the fall

31
00:01:52,279 --> 00:01:54,381
that we would have
enough to eat during the winter.

32
00:01:54,448 --> 00:01:56,116
Everything

33
00:01:56,450 --> 00:01:58,685
everything,
the whole cycle of the seasons

34
00:01:58,752 --> 00:02:01,788
winter was the premier,
was the first place season.

35
00:02:01,855 --> 00:02:03,790
Today,
we tend to discount it

36
00:02:03,857 --> 00:02:06,426
as sort of, oh Lord,
winter's coming again.

37
00:02:06,493 --> 00:02:09,530
We're going to have to
put up with snow

38
00:02:09,596 --> 00:02:11,532
and cold,
and all of that.

39
00:02:11,598 --> 00:02:13,834
We didn't
look at it that way.

40
00:02:13,901 --> 00:02:15,836
We looked at winter

41
00:02:15,903 --> 00:02:18,138
as something
that had to be respected

42
00:02:18,205 --> 00:02:20,140
because it was coming.

43
00:02:20,207 --> 00:02:22,476
We were
not opposed to it.

44
00:02:22,543 --> 00:02:24,478
We looked forward to it.

45
00:02:24,545 --> 00:02:27,214
We tried to,
and did enjoy it.

46
00:02:27,281 --> 00:02:28,949
But we also knew

47
00:02:29,283 --> 00:02:32,753
that we are going
to spend a lot of time

48
00:02:33,253 --> 00:02:36,390
preparing for it,
and that we did.

49
00:02:52,239 --> 00:02:54,942
<i>A Farm Winter</i>
<i>with Jerry Apps</i>

50
00:02:55,008 --> 00:02:57,010
was funded,
in part by

51
00:02:57,344 --> 00:02:59,246
Holiday Vacations;

52
00:03:01,548 --> 00:03:03,784
Ron and Colleen Weyers;

53
00:03:05,853 --> 00:03:08,856
the Edward J. Okray
Foundation;

54
00:03:09,656 --> 00:03:12,326
the Wisconsin
History Fund;

55
00:03:12,793 --> 00:03:17,030
with support from the National
Endowment for the Humanities;

56
00:03:17,097 --> 00:03:21,668
and the Friends
of Wisconsin Public Television.

57
00:03:32,312 --> 00:03:34,648
[diesel engine running]

58
00:03:50,197 --> 00:03:52,232
My earliest memories

59
00:03:52,299 --> 00:03:54,234
which are
in the late '30s

60
00:03:54,301 --> 00:03:56,803
and then through the '40s
and early '50s

61
00:03:56,870 --> 00:03:59,373
winters were considerably
different than they are now.

62
00:03:59,439 --> 00:04:01,675
Winter usually,
dependably started

63
00:04:01,742 --> 00:04:04,478
about the middle
of November.

64
00:04:04,545 --> 00:04:09,550
Meaning, that's when we got
the first significant snowfall.

65
00:04:09,616 --> 00:04:13,420
And by, oh gosh,
I can remember into April

66
00:04:14,655 --> 00:04:17,124
having snow
on the ground.

67
00:04:17,457 --> 00:04:20,027
So that makes
a long season.

68
00:04:20,827 --> 00:04:23,964
Not only that,
but with snow cover

69
00:04:24,498 --> 00:04:27,868
it was not unusual
to have 10 below zero

70
00:04:27,935 --> 00:04:29,603
in November.

71
00:04:29,937 --> 00:04:33,307
It was not unusual
to have 30 below zero

72
00:04:33,373 --> 00:04:35,042
in January.

73
00:04:35,375 --> 00:04:37,377
I can remember
35 below zero.

74
00:04:37,444 --> 00:04:39,880
Well, the snow
was not melting.

75
00:04:39,947 --> 00:04:42,549
It just
kept accumulating

76
00:04:42,616 --> 00:04:46,320
until we would have three or
four feet of snow on the ground.

77
00:04:46,386 --> 00:04:48,355
Winters were fierce.

78
00:04:50,257 --> 00:04:52,826
Along about
early November

79
00:04:54,494 --> 00:04:56,597
when the barn
was full of hay

80
00:04:56,663 --> 00:04:59,099
and the corn cribs
were full of corn

81
00:04:59,166 --> 00:05:01,735
and the first
heavy frost had come

82
00:05:01,802 --> 00:05:04,638
and the leaves
were down from the trees.

83
00:05:04,705 --> 00:05:08,709
When everything was drab,
and brown, and boring

84
00:05:08,775 --> 00:05:13,013
we looked forward
to the change in the season.

85
00:05:13,547 --> 00:05:15,482
Really,
almost a celebration

86
00:05:15,549 --> 00:05:17,451
was when we brought

87
00:05:17,518 --> 00:05:19,520
the wood stove
in from the wood shed

88
00:05:19,586 --> 00:05:21,588
and set it up
in the dining room.

89
00:05:21,655 --> 00:05:23,624
Of course, the kitchen
wood stove, cook stove

90
00:05:23,690 --> 00:05:25,626
had been there
all the while

91
00:05:25,692 --> 00:05:28,529
because my mother used it
all through the summer, as well.

92
00:05:28,595 --> 00:05:31,932
It was a Round Oak heater,
it was called.

93
00:05:31,999 --> 00:05:33,934
The thing
weighed a ton.

94
00:05:34,001 --> 00:05:35,869
We'd ask the neighbors
to come.

95
00:05:35,936 --> 00:05:37,771
We'd slide planks
under this thing

96
00:05:37,838 --> 00:05:39,706
carry it
into the dining room

97
00:05:39,773 --> 00:05:41,708
and try to line it up with
where the stove pipe should go.

98
00:05:41,775 --> 00:05:43,710
Once they'd get the thing
all lined up

99
00:05:43,777 --> 00:05:45,712
then they would stand there

100
00:05:45,779 --> 00:05:47,714
and say,
yep, I think we got 'er.

101
00:05:47,781 --> 00:05:50,317
My dad would say, well,
we're gonna check it out.

102
00:05:50,384 --> 00:05:52,319
And he
would start the fire.

103
00:05:52,386 --> 00:05:54,321
Everybody would stand there
in anticipation.

104
00:05:54,388 --> 00:05:56,323
Now it's a thing
when the smoke--

105
00:05:56,390 --> 00:05:58,358
My mother was standing off
in the back.

106
00:05:58,425 --> 00:06:00,861
You could tell,
if the thing wasn't just right

107
00:06:00,928 --> 00:06:02,863
it would smoke
like everything.

108
00:06:02,930 --> 00:06:05,032
I mean, the room
would fill with smoke.

109
00:06:05,098 --> 00:06:07,034
Then they'd have to
readjust the thing.

110
00:06:07,100 --> 00:06:09,603
If they had done it properly,
they would all smile

111
00:06:09,670 --> 00:06:12,639
and go out in the kitchen
and drink coffee and eat cookies

112
00:06:12,706 --> 00:06:15,209
and sort of celebrate
that the stove was in place.

113
00:06:15,275 --> 00:06:16,944
At the time

114
00:06:17,277 --> 00:06:21,615
that's when we closed off
the rest of the house.

115
00:06:22,516 --> 00:06:24,751
We closed off
the parlor

116
00:06:25,085 --> 00:06:27,020
closed off
the back bedrooms,

117
00:06:27,087 --> 00:06:29,356
closed off the upstairs
bedrooms, except for the one

118
00:06:29,423 --> 00:06:31,458
that was supposedly heated
by the stove pipe.

119
00:06:31,525 --> 00:06:33,794
Because at that time,
my two brothers and I

120
00:06:33,861 --> 00:06:35,896
we all gathered now
in this one bedroom.

121
00:06:35,963 --> 00:06:37,898
That's where we would
spend the winter.

122
00:06:37,965 --> 00:06:39,900
These old houses
looked enormous

123
00:06:39,967 --> 00:06:41,902
and they looked like

124
00:06:41,969 --> 00:06:43,971
they must really be comfortable
and doing well.

125
00:06:44,037 --> 00:06:45,939
They were so cold.
They just were.

126
00:06:46,006 --> 00:06:48,675
Now having said all that,
the next preparation for winter

127
00:06:48,742 --> 00:06:51,845
we had to
enhance our wood pile.

128
00:06:51,912 --> 00:06:53,714
We had to make wood.

129
00:06:54,081 --> 00:06:56,016
Making wood
was an enormous project

130
00:06:56,083 --> 00:06:58,018
when you think about it.

131
00:06:58,085 --> 00:07:00,120
Mind you,
there were no chainsaws.

132
00:07:00,187 --> 00:07:03,924
We had a cross-cut saw,
each of us had an ax.

133
00:07:03,991 --> 00:07:06,860
So, grab the ax,
grab the cross-cut saw

134
00:07:06,927 --> 00:07:10,531
and out into the woods,
and find this old tree.

135
00:07:10,597 --> 00:07:12,733
Those who know
about cutting wood,

136
00:07:12,799 --> 00:07:16,069
know that first
you have to notch the tree.

137
00:07:16,136 --> 00:07:19,706
You do that with an ax,
you notch the tree

138
00:07:19,773 --> 00:07:23,377
in the direction
that you want the tree to fall.

139
00:07:23,443 --> 00:07:27,481
My dad had an uncanny ability
to walk around the tree

140
00:07:27,548 --> 00:07:29,716
and look at
its natural lean.

141
00:07:29,783 --> 00:07:32,719
You can't decide
where the tree should fall.

142
00:07:32,786 --> 00:07:35,689
The tree knows
where it wants to fall.

143
00:07:35,756 --> 00:07:38,292
It's for you
to figure that out.

144
00:07:38,358 --> 00:07:40,928
So you'd notch it
in the direction

145
00:07:40,994 --> 00:07:43,897
that it looks like
it's going to fall.

146
00:07:43,964 --> 00:07:45,999
Then you grab
this cross-cut saw

147
00:07:46,066 --> 00:07:48,836
which is about
six feet long, or so

148
00:07:48,902 --> 00:07:50,904
with wicked,
wicked teeth on it.

149
00:07:50,971 --> 00:07:53,373
Grab one handle,
he the other handle.

150
00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:58,178
One of the things that you learn
when using a cross-cut saw

151
00:07:58,245 --> 00:08:01,815
is that you never push,
you always pull it.

152
00:08:01,882 --> 00:08:06,620
If you try to push it,
you'd jam it up, it pinches.

153
00:08:06,687 --> 00:08:09,456
So, Pa's pulling
and I'm pulling.

154
00:08:09,523 --> 00:08:11,258
and Pa's pulling
and I'm pulling

155
00:08:11,325 --> 00:08:13,760
and Pa's pulling
and I'm pulling.

156
00:08:13,827 --> 00:08:16,263
And my arms
are about to fall off.

157
00:08:16,330 --> 00:08:19,132
Then we hear
a cracking noise.

158
00:08:19,533 --> 00:08:23,170
Oh, I've been waiting
for that noise!

159
00:08:23,237 --> 00:08:26,874
My dad yells, in that
time-honored announcement,

160
00:08:26,940 --> 00:08:28,609
"Timber!"

161
00:08:29,276 --> 00:08:32,513
and the tree crashes
to the ground.

162
00:08:33,547 --> 00:08:36,783
It was an explosion
of broken limbs

163
00:08:38,185 --> 00:08:39,853
flying in the air.

164
00:08:40,687 --> 00:08:43,190
That's just the beginning
of our work.

165
00:08:43,257 --> 00:08:46,827
If you thought that
cutting it down was a problem.

166
00:08:46,894 --> 00:08:48,829
Because now, with our axes

167
00:08:48,896 --> 00:08:50,831
we'd trim off
the smaller branches

168
00:08:50,898 --> 00:08:52,833
and then we'd start
sawing the trunk

169
00:08:52,900 --> 00:08:54,835
into probably
six-foot hunks.

170
00:08:54,902 --> 00:08:57,571
We'd pile the brush in a pile,
"For the rabbits," Pa says.

171
00:08:57,638 --> 00:09:00,407
You've got to have a place
for them to spend the winter.

172
00:09:00,474 --> 00:09:03,677
When we've done
two or three trees, or more

173
00:09:03,744 --> 00:09:06,580
we hitch up the team,
Frank and Charlie

174
00:09:06,647 --> 00:09:08,315
to the bobsled.

175
00:09:08,649 --> 00:09:11,418
I can't
comprehend the fact

176
00:09:11,485 --> 00:09:14,488
that these huge
hunks of oak wood

177
00:09:15,455 --> 00:09:18,825
must have weighed
hundreds of pounds.

178
00:09:18,892 --> 00:09:22,796
We would roll those logs
up onto the sleigh

179
00:09:23,997 --> 00:09:27,801
and we would haul them
up to the back of the house

180
00:09:27,868 --> 00:09:29,803
put them
in an enormous pile.

181
00:09:29,870 --> 00:09:33,974
Then Pa would get on the phone
to Allen Davis and Bill Miller

182
00:09:34,041 --> 00:09:35,976
and Freddy Rapp,
and he'd say

183
00:09:36,043 --> 00:09:39,479
"Can you guys come over and
help saw wood on Saturday?"

184
00:09:39,546 --> 00:09:41,215
"Sure."

185
00:09:41,548 --> 00:09:44,318
The expectation was
that each one of them

186
00:09:44,384 --> 00:09:47,521
will have the same thing
some time or another

187
00:09:47,588 --> 00:09:50,023
because everybody changed work
with each other.

188
00:09:50,090 --> 00:09:53,994
Guy York, a neighbor a half-mile
away, had a circle saw.

189
00:09:54,061 --> 00:09:56,196
It was about
four feet across

190
00:09:56,263 --> 00:09:59,800
and it would be the loudest
noise you could imagine

191
00:09:59,867 --> 00:10:03,070
as that circle saw
bit into the oak wood.

192
00:10:03,136 --> 00:10:05,739
One man was in charge
of throwing away

193
00:10:05,806 --> 00:10:09,776
meaning, he stood holding
the piece of wood to be cut off

194
00:10:09,843 --> 00:10:12,145
and then
threw it in a pile.

195
00:10:12,212 --> 00:10:13,881
It was dangerous.

196
00:10:14,214 --> 00:10:16,149
My gosh,
it was dangerous.

197
00:10:16,216 --> 00:10:18,519
There were no guards
of any kind.

198
00:10:18,585 --> 00:10:22,823
That big circle saw ran free,
its teeth cutting into the wood

199
00:10:22,890 --> 00:10:26,760
or cutting off your arm,
if it got in the way.

200
00:10:26,827 --> 00:10:28,762
They all go home,
tired.

201
00:10:28,829 --> 00:10:30,764
It's a miserable job.

202
00:10:30,831 --> 00:10:33,100
Now here's
this big pile of wood.

203
00:10:33,166 --> 00:10:35,502
What's the next thing
we're faced with?

204
00:10:35,569 --> 00:10:38,605
One thing I learned
very early on

205
00:10:38,672 --> 00:10:41,708
as in almost
everything else in farming

206
00:10:41,775 --> 00:10:44,411
there's a skill
to doing it.

207
00:10:44,478 --> 00:10:47,981
Splitting wood
is right up toward the top.

208
00:10:48,048 --> 00:10:51,518
One of the things
that my dad taught me

209
00:10:52,052 --> 00:10:54,855
was how to read
a piece of wood.

210
00:10:55,622 --> 00:10:59,193
You strike that block of wood
with a splitting maul

211
00:10:59,259 --> 00:11:01,795
so that
you work with the wood

212
00:11:01,862 --> 00:11:04,097
rather than against it.

213
00:11:04,998 --> 00:11:07,000
What a thrill it is
when that happens!

214
00:11:07,067 --> 00:11:09,002
Because,
when you're learning

215
00:11:09,069 --> 00:11:10,971
you either
strike over the block

216
00:11:11,038 --> 00:11:14,374
or you miss the block,
or you hit it on the side.

217
00:11:14,441 --> 00:11:16,443
It requires a fair amount
of eye/hand coordination

218
00:11:16,510 --> 00:11:18,178
to do this.

219
00:11:18,512 --> 00:11:20,781
We piled the wood
in the wood shed.

220
00:11:20,848 --> 00:11:22,783
Then the duty
of the kids

221
00:11:22,850 --> 00:11:25,419
when we were three,
four, or five years old

222
00:11:25,485 --> 00:11:27,721
was to take wood
from the wood shed

223
00:11:27,788 --> 00:11:29,790
and put it
in the wood box

224
00:11:29,857 --> 00:11:32,993
in the kitchen
and in the dining room.

225
00:11:33,060 --> 00:11:36,196
There was a lot involved
in making wood.

226
00:11:36,263 --> 00:11:38,198
Sometimes
people say things

227
00:11:38,265 --> 00:11:41,835
like, well, when you make wood,
you're twi warmed.

228
00:11:41,902 --> 00:11:43,837
How foolish that is.

229
00:11:43,904 --> 00:11:48,041
You are many times warmed
when you make wood.

230
00:12:00,821 --> 00:12:02,489
Want to race?

231
00:12:02,823 --> 00:12:04,491
Not me!

232
00:12:04,825 --> 00:12:07,494
It's all I can do
to keep going.

233
00:12:09,830 --> 00:12:11,832
I remember so clearly

234
00:12:12,132 --> 00:12:15,602
a year, on about
the 15th of November.

235
00:12:16,770 --> 00:12:20,774
My dad had an uncanny ability
to predict the weather.

236
00:12:20,841 --> 00:12:23,677
He watched
the direction of the wind.

237
00:12:23,744 --> 00:12:26,547
He watched
the sunset in the evening.

238
00:12:26,613 --> 00:12:29,016
He watched
the formation of clouds.

239
00:12:29,082 --> 00:12:31,084
He never
talked about this.

240
00:12:31,151 --> 00:12:34,388
He never talked about
how he did it.

241
00:12:34,454 --> 00:12:38,592
But he would say one morning,
did say one morning

242
00:12:38,659 --> 00:12:42,396
when we were getting ready
to walk to school

243
00:12:42,462 --> 00:12:45,766
he said, "You'd better wear
your boots today.

244
00:12:45,832 --> 00:12:47,768
It's gonna to snow."

245
00:12:47,835 --> 00:12:50,237
We looked at him
like he was nuts.

246
00:12:50,304 --> 00:12:52,639
It hadn't snowed ever
so far this season.

247
00:12:52,706 --> 00:12:56,643
So we'd take our boots
and we'd troddle off to school.

248
00:12:56,710 --> 00:13:00,480
At about mid-morning,
we were looking out the window

249
00:13:00,547 --> 00:13:04,251
during long division,
or whatever I was working on.

250
00:13:04,318 --> 00:13:07,988
Here was this first
little flake of snow

251
00:13:09,122 --> 00:13:12,459
and then there would be
another one, and another.

252
00:13:12,526 --> 00:13:15,662
It would hit
this big, long window

253
00:13:16,063 --> 00:13:21,068
and then you would see
a little trickle of moisture

254
00:13:21,134 --> 00:13:24,104
come down
when that snowflake melted.

255
00:13:24,171 --> 00:13:27,107
Then another, and another,
and another.

256
00:13:27,174 --> 00:13:30,878
We all perked up
and looked out the window.

257
00:13:30,944 --> 00:13:33,380
We're supposed to be
paying attention.

258
00:13:33,447 --> 00:13:35,883
Because it was
the first snow.

259
00:13:35,949 --> 00:13:37,951
We were
like young calves

260
00:13:38,018 --> 00:13:41,288
let out of the barn
in the spring.

261
00:13:41,355 --> 00:13:43,023
We're all outside

262
00:13:43,357 --> 00:13:45,425
and we're looking up
at the sky.

263
00:13:45,492 --> 00:13:47,427
It sounds so silly.

264
00:13:47,494 --> 00:13:50,497
The snow is coming down
ever more

265
00:13:51,932 --> 00:13:55,102
and we are running around
and yelling.

266
00:13:55,169 --> 00:13:58,739
One kid says,
I think we have enough snow

267
00:13:58,805 --> 00:14:00,841
to play
Fox and Geese.

268
00:14:00,908 --> 00:14:04,344
Fox and Geese is a game
that you play in the snow.

269
00:14:04,411 --> 00:14:06,680
We played it
in our little softball diamond.

270
00:14:06,747 --> 00:14:08,649
You walk a big circle

271
00:14:09,216 --> 00:14:11,518
everybody
one after the other.

272
00:14:11,585 --> 00:14:13,854
Then you cross
that circle

273
00:14:13,921 --> 00:14:17,558
and then there's
a place in the middle.

274
00:14:17,624 --> 00:14:19,293
That's home spot.

275
00:14:19,626 --> 00:14:21,028
Fox and Geese means
that one person is the fox.

276
00:14:21,094 --> 00:14:22,496
It's a kind of tag game.

277
00:14:22,563 --> 00:14:25,432
The kids run around and
the fox tries to catch them.

278
00:14:25,499 --> 00:14:27,434
When you get in the middle,
the fox can't catch you.

279
00:14:27,501 --> 00:14:29,903
That's a free spot, but only one
person can be there at a time.

280
00:14:29,970 --> 00:14:31,872
You get there
and the person has to leave

281
00:14:31,939 --> 00:14:33,874
and you're
back running around.

282
00:14:33,941 --> 00:14:38,312
The fox is tagging these kids
as they're running around.

283
00:14:38,378 --> 00:14:40,948
The last person
to be tagged

284
00:14:41,448 --> 00:14:44,451
that person
becomes the next fox.

285
00:14:44,518 --> 00:14:46,320
Oh, what fun it was!

286
00:14:47,054 --> 00:14:48,989
We'd been waiting
all fall.

287
00:14:49,056 --> 00:14:52,259
We'd been playing Ante Over
and Run Sheep Run

288
00:14:52,326 --> 00:14:54,761
and all those kinds
of outdoor games

289
00:14:54,828 --> 00:14:58,432
waiting, waiting, so that
we could play Fox and Geese.

290
00:14:58,498 --> 00:15:01,535
[children talking
and playing]

291
00:15:04,104 --> 00:15:06,006
Then the snow
accumulated enough

292
00:15:06,073 --> 00:15:08,375
and somebody said that we ought
to have a snowball fight.

293
00:15:08,442 --> 00:15:12,346
Well, a snowball fight
in a country school

294
00:15:13,313 --> 00:15:15,649
was something
to behold.

295
00:15:15,716 --> 00:15:18,652
[children all yelling
and playing]

296
00:15:18,719 --> 00:15:21,522
We had a rule,
a number of rules.

297
00:15:21,588 --> 00:15:25,526
You never, ever hit a kid
in the head with a snowball.

298
00:15:25,592 --> 00:15:28,262
That was
an out and out no-no.

299
00:15:29,830 --> 00:15:33,300
Whenever somebody
was hit in the head

300
00:15:34,101 --> 00:15:36,670
which they were
on occasion

301
00:15:37,137 --> 00:15:40,040
we, as a group,
sort of determined

302
00:15:40,107 --> 00:15:42,609
if, one,
it was an accident.

303
00:15:42,676 --> 00:15:44,745
Then it would be
overlooked.

304
00:15:44,811 --> 00:15:49,016
Or if it was on purpose,
which it was sometimes.

305
00:15:49,082 --> 00:15:52,753
Now a collective judgment
had to be made.

306
00:15:52,819 --> 00:15:54,755
Did this kid deserve

307
00:15:54,821 --> 00:15:58,158
to be hit in the head
with a snowball?

308
00:15:59,026 --> 00:16:03,697
Had he done something
to the kid throwing the snowball

309
00:16:03,764 --> 00:16:06,500
that deserved
a punishment in return?

310
00:16:06,567 --> 00:16:09,303
Or, had this kid
throwing the ball

311
00:16:09,369 --> 00:16:11,271
done this
maliciously?

312
00:16:11,338 --> 00:16:13,273
Once we'd
figured that out

313
00:16:13,340 --> 00:16:17,377
and kids have an uncanny way
of figuring things out.

314
00:16:17,444 --> 00:16:21,048
If we figured out
that the kid deserved it

315
00:16:21,114 --> 00:16:23,050
nothing more
was said.

316
00:16:23,116 --> 00:16:27,154
If we figured out
that this was a malicious act

317
00:16:27,221 --> 00:16:29,489
we would grab this kid
that threw the snowball

318
00:16:29,556 --> 00:16:31,491
throw him
down in the snow

319
00:16:31,558 --> 00:16:34,361
wash his face with snow
and push snow down his neck

320
00:16:34,428 --> 00:16:37,231
so he would
never do this again

321
00:16:37,731 --> 00:16:42,336
and would remember that there
are rules in snowball fights.

322
00:16:42,402 --> 00:16:45,606
Child:
Throw a snowball
in his face!

323
00:16:45,672 --> 00:16:49,243
That was something very
democratic, I would suggest.

324
00:16:49,309 --> 00:16:51,512
We were
learning early on

325
00:16:51,578 --> 00:16:55,182
how to care for problems
within our midst.

326
00:16:58,785 --> 00:17:00,988
We were
very fortunate.

327
00:17:01,054 --> 00:17:03,724
Our grandmother
was a knitter.

328
00:17:03,790 --> 00:17:06,460
Almost every year
for Christmas

329
00:17:06,527 --> 00:17:10,831
we would receive from Grandma,
new wool mittens.

330
00:17:10,898 --> 00:17:13,433
She also made
for each of us

331
00:17:13,500 --> 00:17:15,435
a woolen scarf,
a huge scarf

332
00:17:15,502 --> 00:17:17,804
that you could wrap
around your head three times

333
00:17:17,871 --> 00:17:20,707
to keep your ears from freezing
and your nose from freezing

334
00:17:20,774 --> 00:17:22,776
and anything else from freezing
on your head.

335
00:17:22,843 --> 00:17:24,778
Well, after one of these
snowball fights

336
00:17:24,845 --> 00:17:26,780
wearing
our woolen mittens.

337
00:17:26,847 --> 00:17:30,217
And most of the kids
had woolen mittens.

338
00:17:30,284 --> 00:17:32,819
I don't remember
anybody having gloves.

339
00:17:32,886 --> 00:17:34,821
Most everybody
had mittens.

340
00:17:34,888 --> 00:17:39,193
All these wet mittens
were hung around the wood stove

341
00:17:39,259 --> 00:17:41,562
in the back
of the school.

342
00:17:41,628 --> 00:17:44,331
If you've ever smelled
a wet sheep

343
00:17:44,398 --> 00:17:48,669
that was the smell
in the back of our school room.

344
00:17:48,735 --> 00:17:52,172
Because there was this
tremendous smell of wet wool

345
00:17:52,239 --> 00:17:54,274
as these mittens
were drying

346
00:17:54,341 --> 00:17:59,279
mixed in with the hint of oak
smoke coming from the stove.

347
00:17:59,346 --> 00:18:01,348
If it was close to noon

348
00:18:01,915 --> 00:18:05,152
on top of the stove
was a pan of water

349
00:18:06,086 --> 00:18:08,088
into which those of us

350
00:18:08,155 --> 00:18:11,191
who brought
jars of soup from home.

351
00:18:11,258 --> 00:18:13,393
All of that
was bubbling.

352
00:18:13,460 --> 00:18:16,964
The smell of the soup
that was warming

353
00:18:17,030 --> 00:18:20,167
and the wet wool,
and the oak smoke

354
00:18:20,567 --> 00:18:23,370
provided a kind of
intermingling smell

355
00:18:23,437 --> 00:18:25,339
that I've
never forgotten.

356
00:18:25,405 --> 00:18:27,341
Smells are something

357
00:18:27,407 --> 00:18:31,078
we often don't think about
in our memories

358
00:18:31,144 --> 00:18:34,348
but smells have tremendous
impression on us.

359
00:18:34,414 --> 00:18:37,117
They are embedded
in our memories.

360
00:18:37,184 --> 00:18:41,388
I can think about these
kinds of smells forever.

361
00:18:46,093 --> 00:18:48,695
Well, you should be out here
when it's 10 below zero.

362
00:18:48,762 --> 00:18:50,697
You know,
cold weather-like.

363
00:18:50,764 --> 00:18:52,799
How much ice have you
got there, 6-8 inches?

364
00:18:52,866 --> 00:18:54,535
Right now?

365
00:18:54,868 --> 00:18:56,537
Yeah.

366
00:18:56,870 --> 00:18:58,772
There's 18 inches
of ice right now.

367
00:18:58,839 --> 00:19:00,507
Oh, my gosh.

368
00:19:00,908 --> 00:19:02,843
The whole spoon
will go down.

369
00:19:02,910 --> 00:19:04,578
Really?

370
00:19:04,912 --> 00:19:08,448
Oh, yeah, the whole spoon
will go down.

371
00:19:08,515 --> 00:19:10,317
Look at that,
yeah.

372
00:19:10,684 --> 00:19:12,953
I guess you don't
have to worry about falling in.

373
00:19:13,020 --> 00:19:14,688
No!

374
00:19:15,189 --> 00:19:17,291
As soon as
the lakes froze up

375
00:19:17,357 --> 00:19:19,960
which would happen in those days
by mid-November.

376
00:19:20,027 --> 00:19:23,664
Ice fishing really was best
early in the season

377
00:19:23,730 --> 00:19:25,666
when the fish
were more active.

378
00:19:25,732 --> 00:19:28,969
We'd do all the chores by,
oh, 9:00 or so in the morning.

379
00:19:29,036 --> 00:19:33,173
We would load into our old
Plymouth car our tip-ups

380
00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:37,377
which are the devices
used to fish through the ice

381
00:19:37,444 --> 00:19:40,347
and an ice chisel
and some minnows.

382
00:19:40,414 --> 00:19:42,583
We were off
to Mount Morris Lake

383
00:19:42,649 --> 00:19:46,186
our favorite lake that
we had gone to many, many times

384
00:19:46,253 --> 00:19:48,188
just east
of Wild Rose.

385
00:19:48,255 --> 00:19:52,926
In those days, you could
build a campfire on shore.

386
00:19:53,527 --> 00:19:55,195
We would do that.

387
00:19:55,629 --> 00:19:57,998
Then we would chop holes
in the ice.

388
00:19:58,065 --> 00:20:00,434
Now the hole,
that was a tough job.

389
00:20:00,501 --> 00:20:03,504
We didn't have a fancy auger,
or anything like that.

390
00:20:03,570 --> 00:20:06,507
The ice chisel that my dad used
was really interesting.

391
00:20:06,573 --> 00:20:10,244
It was the rear axle
of a Model T Ford car.

392
00:20:11,812 --> 00:20:14,114
The blacksmith
in Wild Rose

393
00:20:14,181 --> 00:20:17,918
Arnold Christiansen
was his name, a Danish chap.

394
00:20:17,985 --> 00:20:21,722
He heated the end of that steel,
flattened it out

395
00:20:21,788 --> 00:20:24,358
and made it
sharp as a knife.

396
00:20:24,424 --> 00:20:26,793
In the other end,
he drilled a hole through it

397
00:20:26,860 --> 00:20:28,795
and we put
a leather piece in there.

398
00:20:28,862 --> 00:20:30,797
The embarrassment

399
00:20:30,864 --> 00:20:32,799
that is of considerable
magnitude

400
00:20:32,866 --> 00:20:36,603
if an ice fisherman
punches a hole in the ice

401
00:20:36,670 --> 00:20:40,374
and forgets to put the
leather thong around his wrist.

402
00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:43,177
Then the ice chisel
punches through

403
00:20:43,243 --> 00:20:45,879
that last quarter inch,
or so, of ice

404
00:20:45,946 --> 00:20:47,881
and goes
into the water

405
00:20:47,948 --> 00:20:50,217
if you are not
holding it properly--

406
00:20:50,284 --> 00:20:53,987
In other words, if you don't
have it around your wrist

407
00:20:54,054 --> 00:20:57,090
it will sink
to the bottom of the lake

408
00:20:57,157 --> 00:20:59,092
to be there forever.

409
00:20:59,159 --> 00:21:01,495
We would chop the holes,
maybe 8-10 inches across.

410
00:21:01,562 --> 00:21:03,497
A big embarrassment

411
00:21:03,564 --> 00:21:06,633
if the hole's too small
or the fish is too big.

412
00:21:06,700 --> 00:21:08,368
What do you do now?

413
00:21:08,702 --> 00:21:10,370
[laughs]

414
00:21:10,704 --> 00:21:12,606
We all
hope for that!

415
00:21:12,673 --> 00:21:16,109
We set up all of these tip-ups,
which are little wooden devices

416
00:21:16,176 --> 00:21:18,111
which when the fish
takes the minnow bait

417
00:21:18,178 --> 00:21:19,847
it tips up

418
00:21:20,180 --> 00:21:23,183
and there's a little flag
that waves in the wind.

419
00:21:23,250 --> 00:21:25,185
Then you know
that there's excitement.

420
00:21:25,252 --> 00:21:27,187
When all that's done

421
00:21:27,254 --> 00:21:29,590
then we all assemble
around this little campfire

422
00:21:29,656 --> 00:21:31,725
that we have smoking away
on shore.

423
00:21:31,792 --> 00:21:35,796
There's my Uncle Fred and
my Uncle Ed and my Uncle Wilbur

424
00:21:35,863 --> 00:21:39,566
and my dad, my two brothers,
and sometimes the Kolka boys.

425
00:21:39,633 --> 00:21:42,603
We all sit there
looking out at the lake

426
00:21:42,669 --> 00:21:44,605
on this cold,
wintry day.

427
00:21:44,671 --> 00:21:47,608
There's maybe a few flakes
of snow coming down.

428
00:21:47,674 --> 00:21:50,744
The men, the uncles,
start telling stories,

429
00:21:50,811 --> 00:21:54,348
stories about deer hunting,
stories about rabbit hunting

430
00:21:54,414 --> 00:21:56,350
stories
about making hay

431
00:21:56,416 --> 00:21:59,086
but stories
mostly about ice fishing.

432
00:21:59,152 --> 00:22:02,556
Ice fishing in another day
and another year

433
00:22:02,623 --> 00:22:04,691
when the fish
were bigger

434
00:22:04,758 --> 00:22:06,693
and the cold
was stronger

435
00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:09,830
and the snow was deeper
and the ice was harder.

436
00:22:09,897 --> 00:22:11,965
Everything
was more than it is now.

437
00:22:12,032 --> 00:22:15,536
I would listen
to all of that and marvel

438
00:22:15,602 --> 00:22:19,039
at how these guys
could lie to each other.

439
00:22:19,106 --> 00:22:22,609
They are just sitting there
lying to each other!

440
00:22:22,676 --> 00:22:24,611
They're telling
these wonderful stories.

441
00:22:24,678 --> 00:22:26,613
They're trying
to top each other.

442
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:30,984
In the middle of a great story,
one of the flags goes up

443
00:22:31,051 --> 00:22:34,721
and we know there must be
something going on out there.

444
00:22:34,788 --> 00:22:37,057
We all race out
on the ice.

445
00:22:37,124 --> 00:22:39,059
We gather
around the fisherman

446
00:22:39,126 --> 00:22:42,863
who strips off his gloves
and grabs that wet line.

447
00:22:42,930 --> 00:22:44,865
It's colder
than thunder.

448
00:22:44,932 --> 00:22:46,867
We're all watching

449
00:22:46,934 --> 00:22:50,270
because this is going to be
an exciting moment.

450
00:22:50,337 --> 00:22:52,639
He gives a gentle pull
on the line

451
00:22:52,706 --> 00:22:55,008
and the line
shoots out of his hands

452
00:22:55,075 --> 00:22:57,110
because, indeed,
there's a fish on it.

453
00:22:57,177 --> 00:22:59,213
It trolls,
the line is just going.

454
00:22:59,279 --> 00:23:03,016
We are all going, my gosh,
that must be a big one!

455
00:23:03,083 --> 00:23:05,018
"I'll bet
it's five pounds."

456
00:23:05,085 --> 00:23:07,020
"I'll bet it's ten."

457
00:23:07,087 --> 00:23:11,158
I stand there
with my mouth open, watching.

458
00:23:11,225 --> 00:23:14,261
So he's pulling,
hand over hand.

459
00:23:14,328 --> 00:23:16,296
The wet line
is gathering on his boots

460
00:23:16,363 --> 00:23:18,298
and it's freezing solid

461
00:23:18,365 --> 00:23:20,334
almost by the time
it hits the ice.

462
00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:22,336
He's pulling,
and he's pulling.

463
00:23:22,402 --> 00:23:24,338
The fish has gone out
some great distance.

464
00:23:24,404 --> 00:23:26,373
We're wondering
if it's still on or not.

465
00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:28,375
"Is the fish still on?"

466
00:23:28,442 --> 00:23:30,377
"Yeah,
it's still on."

467
00:23:30,444 --> 00:23:32,379
You can feel it,
and more tugging.

468
00:23:32,446 --> 00:23:34,381
We're just
all standing there.

469
00:23:34,448 --> 00:23:36,450
The audience is saying,
pull him faster!

470
00:23:36,517 --> 00:23:39,219
Pull him slower!
Let him go! Pull him in!

471
00:23:39,286 --> 00:23:41,221
It's full of
more contradictory advice

472
00:23:41,288 --> 00:23:43,223
you ever could imagine.

473
00:23:43,290 --> 00:23:46,293
Then we looked down
in the hole

474
00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:49,296
and there this massive,
massive head appears.

475
00:23:49,363 --> 00:23:52,733
Now a Northern Pike
with its mouth open

476
00:23:52,799 --> 00:23:54,735
is something
to behold.

477
00:23:54,801 --> 00:23:56,870
It has
the sharpest teeth.

478
00:23:56,937 --> 00:24:00,807
It's the most vicious looking
fish you could imagine.

479
00:24:00,874 --> 00:24:04,378
The fisherman unhooks the hook
from the Northern Pike

480
00:24:04,444 --> 00:24:07,981
puts another minnow on,
and feeds that frozen line

481
00:24:08,048 --> 00:24:11,952
back down into the hole
to wait for the possibility

482
00:24:12,019 --> 00:24:15,522
that another fish
may come by yet this day

483
00:24:15,589 --> 00:24:20,827
and that he may have one more
fish to add to his collection

484
00:24:21,428 --> 00:24:24,064
and to his repertoire
of stories.

485
00:24:24,131 --> 00:24:26,767
Every fish caught
has a story.

486
00:24:26,834 --> 00:24:28,502
Now we're all back

487
00:24:28,836 --> 00:24:30,771
sitting
around the fire again.

488
00:24:30,838 --> 00:24:32,739
We're commending
and complimenting

489
00:24:32,806 --> 00:24:35,175
and slapping the guy
on the shoulder

490
00:24:35,242 --> 00:24:37,211
that he's done
a wonderful job.

491
00:24:37,277 --> 00:24:40,013
He doesn't have to say
much of anything

492
00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,816
because he knows
he's done a wonderful job.

493
00:24:42,883 --> 00:24:45,953
He knows that he's listened
to his own advice

494
00:24:46,019 --> 00:24:47,988
on how
to catch a fish.

495
00:24:48,055 --> 00:24:50,023
Because there is
a considerable skill

496
00:24:50,090 --> 00:24:52,793
to catching a Northern Pike
through the ice.

497
00:24:52,860 --> 00:24:54,528
He knows that.

498
00:24:54,862 --> 00:24:56,797
The audience
knows that, too.

499
00:24:56,864 --> 00:25:02,169
That process was repeated
again, and again, and again.

500
00:25:02,236 --> 00:25:05,572
If fishing was good
and the day was right

501
00:25:05,639 --> 00:25:10,210
there might be a half a dozen
times, or more, in a day

502
00:25:10,277 --> 00:25:14,181
that that little episode
would be repeated.

503
00:25:14,248 --> 00:25:17,251
Each time,
exactly like the previous time.

504
00:25:17,317 --> 00:25:22,656
Each time, profoundly different
from the previous time.

505
00:25:45,846 --> 00:25:48,115
About the day
after Thanksgiving

506
00:25:48,182 --> 00:25:50,417
we began thinking
about Christmas

507
00:25:50,484 --> 00:25:52,753
because
it was about then

508
00:25:52,819 --> 00:25:55,822
that the first
Christmas catalog arrived.

509
00:25:55,889 --> 00:25:57,558
We could not wait.

510
00:25:57,958 --> 00:26:01,395
The three of us
would literally fight

511
00:26:01,461 --> 00:26:03,931
over who got to see it first

512
00:26:04,898 --> 00:26:07,768
because
it was from that catalog

513
00:26:07,835 --> 00:26:10,971
that we were able
to select one toy

514
00:26:11,772 --> 00:26:16,743
and one item of clothing
for Santa Claus to bring.

515
00:26:16,810 --> 00:26:20,948
Everything under the sun
was in this catalog

516
00:26:23,684 --> 00:26:25,352
and in full color.

517
00:26:25,686 --> 00:26:29,690
We had to pick out one thing
from all of that.

518
00:26:30,190 --> 00:26:32,860
How in the world
did I select

519
00:26:32,926 --> 00:26:35,596
among all of these
many, many choices?

520
00:26:35,662 --> 00:26:38,699
Now it wasn't something
that one did easily.

521
00:26:38,765 --> 00:26:42,603
It took days, probably a week
or more, to decide.

522
00:26:42,669 --> 00:26:47,941
The first considerations
was, if I remember correctly

523
00:26:48,008 --> 00:26:50,811
it couldn't cost more
than two dollars, maybe three.

524
00:26:50,878 --> 00:26:52,813
That puts
all that stuff aside.

525
00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:55,716
But then you'd sort through
all these other things.

526
00:26:55,782 --> 00:26:58,252
I was always
fond of books.

527
00:26:58,685 --> 00:27:00,487
I never had enough.

528
00:27:00,754 --> 00:27:03,524
Our library in Wild Rose
in those days

529
00:27:03,590 --> 00:27:05,993
didn't allow us
to check out books.

530
00:27:06,059 --> 00:27:08,462
Our school library
had very few books.

531
00:27:08,529 --> 00:27:12,766
So generally speaking,
I would ask for a book.

532
00:27:13,867 --> 00:27:16,203
Christmas
was a big deal.

533
00:27:17,070 --> 00:27:20,040
We would go to church
on Christmas eve, generally.

534
00:27:20,107 --> 00:27:23,477
For many years, before we had
a German Lutheran church

535
00:27:23,544 --> 00:27:25,212
in Wild Rose

536
00:27:25,546 --> 00:27:27,781
we went to
the Holden Lutheran Church

537
00:27:27,848 --> 00:27:29,783
which was Norwegian.

538
00:27:29,850 --> 00:27:32,452
My dad wasn't quite sure,
nor my mother

539
00:27:32,519 --> 00:27:35,923
if that was appropriate for us
as good German Lutherans

540
00:27:35,989 --> 00:27:38,659
to be messing around
with these Norwegian Lutherans.

541
00:27:38,725 --> 00:27:40,394
Isn't that weird?

542
00:27:40,727 --> 00:27:43,163
They were our neighbors,
we knew them all.

543
00:27:43,230 --> 00:27:44,898
[laughs]

544
00:27:47,668 --> 00:27:49,603
Different
from city kids

545
00:27:49,670 --> 00:27:51,805
on Christmas morning,
we didn't rush downstairs

546
00:27:51,872 --> 00:27:54,775
and tear open our packages
and shout with glee

547
00:27:54,842 --> 00:27:56,777
over the presents
that we got.

548
00:27:56,844 --> 00:27:58,512
No, indeed.

549
00:27:58,846 --> 00:28:00,848
The cows
always came first.

550
00:28:00,914 --> 00:28:04,218
No matter what was going on,
milking the cows

551
00:28:04,284 --> 00:28:06,220
twice a day, on time

552
00:28:06,286 --> 00:28:08,488
feeding them
and caring for them

553
00:28:08,555 --> 00:28:11,525
was the most important thing
that we did.

554
00:28:11,592 --> 00:28:13,527
Indeed,
the most important.

555
00:28:13,594 --> 00:28:15,529
It came before
everything.

556
00:28:15,596 --> 00:28:17,965
So Christmas morning,
it's out to the barn.

557
00:28:18,031 --> 00:28:20,467
The Christmas tree
is in the dining room.

558
00:28:20,534 --> 00:28:22,469
Presents
are under it.

559
00:28:22,536 --> 00:28:24,605
We can't touch
the presents

560
00:28:24,671 --> 00:28:28,442
until the cows are milked,
the cows are fed.

561
00:28:28,509 --> 00:28:32,312
We're in the house
after all of that's done

562
00:28:32,379 --> 00:28:35,315
and then we can open
our presents.

563
00:28:35,382 --> 00:28:38,819
I tear open this little package,
and there's my book

564
00:28:38,886 --> 00:28:40,554
"Fun For Boys."

565
00:28:40,888 --> 00:28:42,823
I have it
to this day.

566
00:28:42,890 --> 00:28:45,392
A book about things
that boys can do.

567
00:28:45,459 --> 00:28:47,928
Everything from how
to throw your voice.

568
00:28:47,995 --> 00:28:50,797
That's what they called
ventriloquists in those days

569
00:28:50,864 --> 00:28:53,700
people who were able
to throw their voice.

570
00:28:53,767 --> 00:28:56,770
How to identify
foreign airplanes

571
00:28:56,837 --> 00:28:59,339
which
really intrigued me

572
00:28:59,406 --> 00:29:04,144
because we were at war with
Germany and Japan at the time.

573
00:29:04,211 --> 00:29:06,713
I envisioned
the German Messerschmitt

574
00:29:06,780 --> 00:29:10,851
coming over our farm
and strafing our cattle.

575
00:29:10,918 --> 00:29:13,120
I mean, that was
the worst possible thought.

576
00:29:13,187 --> 00:29:15,289
All of that
was in this book.

577
00:29:15,355 --> 00:29:17,291
You could look at
the configurations

578
00:29:17,357 --> 00:29:19,293
for these airplanes

579
00:29:19,359 --> 00:29:22,596
and plan for that terrible day
when airplanes would come.

580
00:29:22,663 --> 00:29:24,331
They never did.

581
00:29:24,831 --> 00:29:28,635
I never saw an airplane, ever,
whether it was German or U.S.

582
00:29:28,702 --> 00:29:30,838
I never saw
any kind of plane!

583
00:29:30,904 --> 00:29:32,840
But we were prepared.

584
00:29:35,442 --> 00:29:37,845
I had
a second present, too.

585
00:29:37,911 --> 00:29:40,314
That year
I got a sweater.

586
00:29:40,380 --> 00:29:43,550
Now my brother Donald he got
what was called a Crow Shoot.

587
00:29:43,617 --> 00:29:45,552
That's what
he picked out.

588
00:29:45,619 --> 00:29:47,654
A Crow Shoot
was a little pop gun.

589
00:29:47,721 --> 00:29:50,924
You cracked it open
and you put a cork in the end.

590
00:29:50,991 --> 00:29:54,194
You pulled the trigger and the
cork flew out about six feet.

591
00:29:54,261 --> 00:29:56,196
There were
a bunch of crows

592
00:29:56,263 --> 00:29:58,198
silhouettes of crows
on a little thing.

593
00:29:58,265 --> 00:30:01,468
You hit a crow and it'd turn
around three or four times.

594
00:30:01,535 --> 00:30:03,837
He was, bing, bing, bing,
pretty good.

595
00:30:03,904 --> 00:30:07,174
He was turning these crows over
one after the other.

596
00:30:07,241 --> 00:30:09,543
Pretty soon,
he got bored of that.

597
00:30:09,610 --> 00:30:12,246
Well, my dad
was sitting by the stove,

598
00:30:12,312 --> 00:30:14,948
the Round Oak heater
in the dining room.

599
00:30:15,015 --> 00:30:16,950
He's reading
the paper

600
00:30:17,017 --> 00:30:19,386
while we're mussing around
with our toys.

601
00:30:19,453 --> 00:30:21,121
My brother--

602
00:30:21,455 --> 00:30:23,824
What got into him,
I don't know!

603
00:30:23,891 --> 00:30:25,859
My dad
used to smoke cigarettes

604
00:30:25,926 --> 00:30:29,096
and he was smoking
a cigarette at the time.

605
00:30:29,162 --> 00:30:32,299
My brother Donald takes aim
with his little cork gun

606
00:30:32,366 --> 00:30:34,034
and goes, "bloop"

607
00:30:34,368 --> 00:30:37,538
and darned if he didn't hit
that cigarette straight on.

608
00:30:37,604 --> 00:30:40,741
It flew out of my dad's mouth
onto the floor.

609
00:30:40,807 --> 00:30:43,510
My brother Darrel and I
were aghast!

610
00:30:43,577 --> 00:30:46,280
This would be
the most severe punishment

611
00:30:46,346 --> 00:30:48,649
that could ever
be meted out.

612
00:30:48,715 --> 00:30:50,651
I mean,
we couldn't wait

613
00:30:50,717 --> 00:30:54,188
to see what was going to happen
to my brother Donald

614
00:30:54,254 --> 00:30:56,190
who himself
was so surprised

615
00:30:56,256 --> 00:30:58,325
that his shot
had been so accurate.

616
00:30:58,392 --> 00:31:03,030
My dad picks up the cigarette,
puts it back in his mouth

617
00:31:03,096 --> 00:31:05,032
and looks over
at Donald

618
00:31:05,098 --> 00:31:08,135
and says,
"That was a pretty good shot."

619
00:31:08,202 --> 00:31:12,673
Only Christmas morning,
I think, saved the day.

620
00:31:15,676 --> 00:31:17,611
One of the
interesting things

621
00:31:17,678 --> 00:31:20,147
that we always did
on Christmas day

622
00:31:20,214 --> 00:31:24,184
after we'd opened the presents
and we'd had our noon meal

623
00:31:24,251 --> 00:31:27,487
we had neighbors
just to the north of us.

624
00:31:27,554 --> 00:31:29,823
Alan lived there
with his daughter.

625
00:31:29,890 --> 00:31:32,526
His wife had died
some years earlier.

626
00:31:32,593 --> 00:31:35,629
And they were poor
as poor could be.

627
00:31:35,696 --> 00:31:37,364
On Christmas day

628
00:31:37,698 --> 00:31:41,835
my mother always baked
an apple pie for them.

629
00:31:43,737 --> 00:31:47,641
She would buy
a couple of little presents.

630
00:31:49,076 --> 00:31:53,914
My brothers and I would
go down there in the afternoon.

631
00:31:53,981 --> 00:31:55,916
They would welcome us.

632
00:31:55,983 --> 00:31:58,085
Oh, they would
welcome company!

633
00:31:58,151 --> 00:32:01,255
They were wonderful people
in that respect.

634
00:32:01,321 --> 00:32:04,691
Going into their house,
there were no decorations

635
00:32:04,758 --> 00:32:06,426
no Christmas tree

636
00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:10,163
no sign
that it was Christmas at all.

637
00:32:10,230 --> 00:32:13,634
They would be sitting
by the wood stove.

638
00:32:13,700 --> 00:32:17,304
We would sit there
and we would talk with them.

639
00:32:17,371 --> 00:32:20,174
They would ask us
how things were going

640
00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:22,743
and what presents
we got for Christmas.

641
00:32:22,809 --> 00:32:25,712
I would give them
the apple pie.

642
00:32:27,514 --> 00:32:29,750
My mother had purchased

643
00:32:30,217 --> 00:32:32,886
a pair of work gloves
for Alan

644
00:32:34,922 --> 00:32:36,590
which I gave him.

645
00:32:37,624 --> 00:32:41,228
She'd gotten
a little frilly handkerchief

646
00:32:41,295 --> 00:32:43,764
which she had
for Kathryn.

647
00:32:44,364 --> 00:32:46,934
I knew,
as did my mother know

648
00:32:48,635 --> 00:32:52,306
that's the only presents
that they got.

649
00:32:52,873 --> 00:32:56,810
When my brothers and I left,
Alan said, "Thank you."

650
00:32:56,877 --> 00:32:58,879
"Thank your mother."

651
00:32:59,746 --> 00:33:04,451
And Kathryn said,
"Thank your mother for me, too."

652
00:33:04,518 --> 00:33:06,854
She had tears
in her eyes.

653
00:33:08,522 --> 00:33:10,858
That helped me
understand

654
00:33:10,924 --> 00:33:13,927
there was a lot more
to Christmas

655
00:33:15,128 --> 00:33:20,634
than receiving books and
sweaters, and other presents.

656
00:33:50,163 --> 00:33:54,434
My dad would say,
"There's a big storm coming."

657
00:33:54,501 --> 00:33:58,805
The sky was just cloudy,
there wasn't anything unusual.

658
00:33:58,872 --> 00:34:03,177
The wind wasn't blowing,
and yet he knew somehow.

659
00:34:03,243 --> 00:34:05,179
So, this particular day

660
00:34:05,245 --> 00:34:08,815
he said, "Boys,
we're in for a bad one."

661
00:34:09,249 --> 00:34:11,552
It was snowing
just ever so little bit

662
00:34:11,618 --> 00:34:13,554
as we were
walking to school.

663
00:34:13,620 --> 00:34:15,556
Didn't amount to much.

664
00:34:15,622 --> 00:34:19,793
As the morning wore on,
and we were doing our lessons

665
00:34:19,860 --> 00:34:22,863
and the snow is coming down
ever harder

666
00:34:22,930 --> 00:34:24,831
we can feel the wind.

667
00:34:25,866 --> 00:34:29,937
The wind is rattling
the schoolhouse windows.

668
00:34:30,003 --> 00:34:32,773
The wind is sending the snow
under the windows

669
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:35,275
and it's building up
on the window sills

670
00:34:35,342 --> 00:34:37,277
on the inside
of the school.

671
00:34:37,344 --> 00:34:40,147
It did that at home, too,
by the way.

672
00:34:40,214 --> 00:34:42,149
It's marvelous,
really.

673
00:34:42,216 --> 00:34:44,351
As a kid, you look at that

674
00:34:44,418 --> 00:34:46,887
and say, that's just really
kind of interesting.

675
00:34:46,954 --> 00:34:48,889
As we got to recess time

676
00:34:48,956 --> 00:34:51,258
Miss Thompson,
our teacher that year, said

677
00:34:51,325 --> 00:34:54,695
"I don't think you ought
to go outside for recess."

678
00:34:54,761 --> 00:34:56,697
She never said that.

679
00:34:56,763 --> 00:34:59,066
But she knew
what was going on.

680
00:34:59,132 --> 00:35:03,470
You cod not see ten feet
in front of your face

681
00:35:03,537 --> 00:35:06,573
by recess time,
it was snowing so hard.

682
00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:10,744
Around 2:00, maybe 2:30,
the fathers began arriving.

683
00:35:10,811 --> 00:35:14,915
Mind you, nobody drove anything,
they all walked.

684
00:35:14,982 --> 00:35:17,718
My dad finally comes
and he stomps off his boots.

685
00:35:17,784 --> 00:35:19,720
It's cold,
it's getting really cold, too.

686
00:35:19,786 --> 00:35:21,955
Every father is all gathered
around the stove

687
00:35:22,022 --> 00:35:23,957
and they're
slapping their hands together

688
00:35:24,024 --> 00:35:25,959
and they're warming them
on the stove.

689
00:35:26,026 --> 00:35:28,762
Miss Thompson is saying, well,
"What's it like out there?"

690
00:35:28,829 --> 00:35:31,865
The fact that it was dangerous,
we all knew that.

691
00:35:31,932 --> 00:35:33,867
Nobody
talked about that.

692
00:35:33,934 --> 00:35:35,869
You didn't worry much
about that

693
00:35:35,936 --> 00:35:37,871
because we'd
been there before.

694
00:35:37,938 --> 00:35:39,907
Well, now we're
heading out the door.

695
00:35:39,973 --> 00:35:42,309
Of course,
we've got our big boots on

696
00:35:42,376 --> 00:35:44,311
and Pa
is making the trail.

697
00:35:44,378 --> 00:35:47,314
You learn in the winter,
in the deep snow

698
00:35:47,381 --> 00:35:49,950
you don't everybody walk
alongside of everybody else.

699
00:35:50,017 --> 00:35:51,952
You walk
in a single line.

700
00:35:52,019 --> 00:35:53,954
Pa's at the head of the pack
and Darrel is next

701
00:35:54,021 --> 00:35:55,956
Donald's next,
and I'm bringing up the rear.

702
00:35:56,023 --> 00:35:57,958
I can hardly see Pa
in the front

703
00:35:58,025 --> 00:36:00,027
and it's only a few feet
in the front.

704
00:36:00,093 --> 00:36:01,995
The snow is blowing.

705
00:36:02,062 --> 00:36:03,997
It's hitting us in the face,
and it's hitting us in the eyes

706
00:36:04,064 --> 00:36:05,999
and it is terrible.

707
00:36:06,066 --> 00:36:10,170
The wind is howling so,
that we can not hear each other.

708
00:36:10,237 --> 00:36:12,172
Pa says, "Don't stop

709
00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:14,541
for whatever reason
without telling me."

710
00:36:14,608 --> 00:36:19,279
So, we go almost to Miller's
place, which is mostly halfway.

711
00:36:19,346 --> 00:36:23,217
And Pa calls a halt,
and we stop and rest

712
00:36:23,283 --> 00:36:24,952
by a huge snowbank

713
00:36:25,285 --> 00:36:28,255
that the snowplow had made
from earlier snowfalls.

714
00:36:28,322 --> 00:36:32,125
The snow sifting over the top
of this big snowbank

715
00:36:32,192 --> 00:36:34,127
and sifting down on us.

716
00:36:34,194 --> 00:36:36,163
We're not terribly
uncomfortable.

717
00:36:36,230 --> 00:36:39,132
We're sort of excited
by it all.

718
00:36:39,733 --> 00:36:41,702
Then we continue on.

719
00:36:41,768 --> 00:36:43,770
The first notice
that we're getting home

720
00:36:43,837 --> 00:36:46,139
is you catch the smell
of wood smoke.

721
00:36:46,206 --> 00:36:49,710
I can't see the buildings,
but I can smell the wood smoke.

722
00:36:49,776 --> 00:36:52,513
Finally, we trudge up
along the driveway

723
00:36:52,579 --> 00:36:54,581
and get up to the house

724
00:36:55,015 --> 00:36:57,751
take off our boots
on the porch.

725
00:36:57,818 --> 00:37:01,088
We swept the snow
off of each other

726
00:37:01,154 --> 00:37:04,758
because we looked like snowmen,
each one of us.

727
00:37:04,825 --> 00:37:08,428
Into the kitchen,
and there on the kitchen stove

728
00:37:08,495 --> 00:37:12,499
was a big pot of homemade
vegetable soup, steaming away.

729
00:37:12,566 --> 00:37:16,737
Oh, what a wonderful,
wonderful thing it was

730
00:37:16,803 --> 00:37:20,707
to come into the house,
be warm by the stove

731
00:37:22,042 --> 00:37:24,077
and have
vegetable soup.

732
00:37:24,144 --> 00:37:27,281
That was just
the beginning, of course

733
00:37:27,347 --> 00:37:29,249
because we were safe

734
00:37:29,816 --> 00:37:33,253
but now we've got to
contend with the chores.

735
00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:35,622
We found our way to the barn,
did the chores.

736
00:37:35,689 --> 00:37:37,357
It was eery

737
00:37:37,691 --> 00:37:40,694
because when
you go up in the barn

738
00:37:42,029 --> 00:37:43,931
to throw down the hay

739
00:37:44,731 --> 00:37:49,002
to hear the wind howling.
rattling the barn

740
00:37:49,069 --> 00:37:52,773
roaring around the corners,
it was unbelievable.

741
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:55,876
I don't know
if it was fearsome, I suppose

742
00:37:55,943 --> 00:37:58,312
but I can't remember
being terribly afraid

743
00:37:58,378 --> 00:38:02,182
other than just being amazed
at all of these unusual sounds.

744
00:38:02,249 --> 00:38:04,384
The cattle,
they didn't seem to mind.

745
00:38:04,451 --> 00:38:06,954
You'd throw down
the hay and the silage

746
00:38:07,020 --> 00:38:08,956
and they were
content and happy.

747
00:38:09,022 --> 00:38:11,191
It was always warm
in the barn.

748
00:38:11,258 --> 00:38:13,193
Then back into the house.

749
00:38:13,260 --> 00:38:16,597
You might ask, well, what about
happened when the power went out

750
00:38:16,663 --> 00:38:18,765
in the middle
of all of this storm.

751
00:38:18,832 --> 00:38:21,869
Well, the power didn't go out,
because there wasn't any power.

752
00:38:21,935 --> 00:38:24,605
We didn't
have electricity.

753
00:38:26,139 --> 00:38:29,843
We went to sleep
with covers just thick on us.

754
00:38:29,910 --> 00:38:34,047
Again, hearing the sound
of the wind howling

755
00:38:34,615 --> 00:38:38,752
and wondering how long
this is going to last.

756
00:38:39,887 --> 00:38:43,590
By the next morning,
the wind had stopped.

757
00:38:43,657 --> 00:38:46,393
The landscape had been
completely transformed.

758
00:38:46,460 --> 00:38:49,229
All the sharp edges
were gone.

759
00:38:49,296 --> 00:38:52,099
It was a land
of black and white

760
00:38:53,100 --> 00:38:54,768
and a blue sky.

761
00:38:55,102 --> 00:38:57,104
It was
kind of pretty.

762
00:38:57,437 --> 00:38:59,339
Colder than thunder.

763
00:38:59,406 --> 00:39:02,809
After these big blizzards,
the temperature would plummet

764
00:39:02,876 --> 00:39:06,647
10 below zero, 20 below zero,
30 below zero.

765
00:39:06,713 --> 00:39:08,649
Colder than anything.

766
00:39:08,715 --> 00:39:12,119
So what would we be doing
the next morning?

767
00:39:12,186 --> 00:39:14,421
Well, we would be
shoveling paths.

768
00:39:14,488 --> 00:39:17,858
Path to the pump hou,
path to the barn,

769
00:39:17,925 --> 00:39:21,328
path to the chicken house,
path to the granary,

770
00:39:21,395 --> 00:39:23,630
path to the outhouse,
paths everywhere.

771
00:39:23,697 --> 00:39:29,203
Now the problem that we had
was what to do with the milk.

772
00:39:29,269 --> 00:39:33,440
Because we had enough storage
space for maybe two days.

773
00:39:33,507 --> 00:39:35,576
We knew that the roads

774
00:39:35,642 --> 00:39:37,578
were completely
impassable.

775
00:39:37,644 --> 00:39:40,981
We didn't know
how long they would be

776
00:39:41,748 --> 00:39:44,551
so the milk truck
could get in.

777
00:39:45,385 --> 00:39:48,822
So, we filled up all the cans
with milk by the second day

778
00:39:48,889 --> 00:39:51,158
filled up the washing machine
and the wash tubs

779
00:39:51,225 --> 00:39:54,394
filled up all the pots and pans,
and everything we could find.

780
00:39:54,461 --> 00:39:56,396
We even made butter.

781
00:39:56,463 --> 00:39:58,966
My mother said, "Let's try
and make some butter."

782
00:39:59,032 --> 00:40:01,835
So we made some butter
from some of the cream.

783
00:40:01,902 --> 00:40:04,671
She made some cottage cheese
from some of the milk.

784
00:40:04,738 --> 00:40:07,207
Finally, I don't know,
the third or fourth day

785
00:40:07,274 --> 00:40:09,610
in the middle
of the night

786
00:40:09,676 --> 00:40:12,779
we could hear
the roar of the snowplow.

787
00:40:12,846 --> 00:40:15,516
The snow
was as hard as a rock.

788
00:40:16,350 --> 00:40:18,285
You could hear this

789
00:40:18,352 --> 00:40:20,420
big four-wheel-drive
diesel truck snowplow

790
00:40:20,487 --> 00:40:22,422
charging forward
and backing up

791
00:40:22,489 --> 00:40:25,125
charging forward and backing up,
again and again.

792
00:40:25,192 --> 00:40:28,595
That was the sound
that we heard all night long.

793
00:40:28,662 --> 00:40:30,330
But we knew

794
00:40:30,664 --> 00:40:34,101
we knew that the next day,
the milkman would arrive

795
00:40:34,168 --> 00:40:38,405
and things would come
back to normal, mostly.

796
00:40:40,140 --> 00:40:42,142
My dad would
sometimes remind us

797
00:40:42,209 --> 00:40:46,046
that if you think you're in
charge of things, you're not.

798
00:40:46,113 --> 00:40:48,048
There's something else
in charge

799
00:40:48,115 --> 00:40:50,050
and that's
Mother Nature.

800
00:40:50,117 --> 00:40:53,587
She's going to dictate,
if you live on a farm

801
00:40:53,654 --> 00:40:56,423
she's going to dictate
much of your life.

802
00:40:56,490 --> 00:40:58,425
You better
get used to it,

803
00:40:58,492 --> 00:41:00,761
and you better
be comfortable with it.

804
00:41:00,827 --> 00:41:04,164
You better learn
how to adjust to it.

805
00:41:21,181 --> 00:41:23,116
There were a lot
of mental health problems

806
00:41:23,183 --> 00:41:25,118
for many farm women
in winter

807
00:41:25,185 --> 00:41:27,120
because
they were so isolated

808
00:41:27,187 --> 00:41:29,189
and didn't have a chance
to talk to anybody

809
00:41:29,256 --> 00:41:31,191
other than
their own family.

810
00:41:31,258 --> 00:41:34,394
The men would go to the mill
or the cheese factory

811
00:41:34,461 --> 00:41:36,964
but the women, well,
they'd get to church

812
00:41:37,030 --> 00:41:40,467
and maybe to town once a week
or every two weeks.

813
00:41:40,534 --> 00:41:42,469
So they would do things
like quilting bees.

814
00:41:42,536 --> 00:41:45,706
That means all of the neighbor
women would come to our house

815
00:41:45,772 --> 00:41:47,441
in the dining room

816
00:41:47,741 --> 00:41:49,676
with this great big thing
they'd set up

817
00:41:49,743 --> 00:41:51,712
a big framework
with a quilt on it.

818
00:41:51,778 --> 00:41:53,447
All these women

819
00:41:53,780 --> 00:41:55,716
would sit around
and sew.

820
00:41:55,782 --> 00:41:57,718
They spent
all afternoon.

821
00:41:57,784 --> 00:41:59,720
They would do that
for many days.

822
00:41:59,786 --> 00:42:02,389
It was as much a social event
as it was a quilting bee.

823
00:42:02,456 --> 00:42:04,124
It was wonderful

824
00:42:04,458 --> 00:42:08,595
because great fancy quilts
came out of this.

825
00:42:09,363 --> 00:42:11,932
The interactions
of people

826
00:42:12,266 --> 00:42:14,501
who are now
somewhat isolated

827
00:42:14,568 --> 00:42:16,770
because travel
is more difficult

828
00:42:16,837 --> 00:42:18,772
becomes very important.

829
00:42:18,839 --> 00:42:20,741
Winter
enhances that.

830
00:42:20,807 --> 00:42:23,043
Sometimes
I think we've forgotten

831
00:42:23,110 --> 00:42:25,045
in our hurry-up society

832
00:42:25,112 --> 00:42:29,316
the importance of neighbors
and the value of community.

833
00:42:29,383 --> 00:42:31,618
Winter forges,
in our minds

834
00:42:31,685 --> 00:42:33,787
the importance
of those relationships.

835
00:42:33,854 --> 00:42:36,857
There were housewarmings,
new neighbors moved in

836
00:42:36,924 --> 00:42:40,761
we would all go over there
and welcome them.

837
00:42:40,827 --> 00:42:44,531
One of our neighbor's
daughter was married.

838
00:42:44,598 --> 00:42:48,402
They had a reception for us
at their house

839
00:42:49,436 --> 00:42:52,606
on a cold winter
Saturday night.

840
00:42:52,673 --> 00:42:56,009
They lived
about a mile away from us.

841
00:42:56,944 --> 00:42:58,879
Everybody walked.

842
00:42:58,946 --> 00:43:00,948
We walked everywhere,
day and night, we walked.

843
00:43:01,014 --> 00:43:03,183
If it was two miles
or less, we walked

844
00:43:03,250 --> 00:43:05,185
sometimes
even more than that.

845
00:43:05,252 --> 00:43:07,187
As we approached
the Rapp farm

846
00:43:07,254 --> 00:43:09,423
we could hear on this
cold winter night, music

847
00:43:09,489 --> 00:43:11,158
so we knew

848
00:43:11,491 --> 00:43:15,529
that our three musicians
in our neighborhood

849
00:43:15,596 --> 00:43:17,264
were performing.

850
00:43:18,332 --> 00:43:21,335
These guys played at all kinds
of different things.

851
00:43:21,401 --> 00:43:23,337
They played
at the school.

852
00:43:23,403 --> 00:43:25,339
They played
all over the place.

853
00:43:25,405 --> 00:43:27,341
All farmers, they weren't
full-time musicians.

854
00:43:27,407 --> 00:43:30,077
Let's see, there was
Harry Banks, an Englishman

855
00:43:30,143 --> 00:43:32,079
he played a violin.

856
00:43:32,145 --> 00:43:35,382
He had a finger missing
on his left hand

857
00:43:35,449 --> 00:43:37,918
so he could somehow
work the violin

858
00:43:37,985 --> 00:43:41,255
I don't know, just like
this finger was missing.

859
00:43:41,321 --> 00:43:44,191
He'd got it caught
in a mower accident.

860
00:43:44,258 --> 00:43:46,193
He's playing his violin.

861
00:43:46,260 --> 00:43:50,497
Then we've got Pinky Eserhut,
who played the banjo.

862
00:43:50,564 --> 00:43:52,866
His real name
was Alvin.

863
00:43:52,933 --> 00:43:54,868
None of us knew that
until he died

864
00:43:54,935 --> 00:43:56,970
and it was in the obituary,
it said Alvin.

865
00:43:57,037 --> 00:43:59,540
I could see why he didn't want
anybody to know that.

866
00:43:59,606 --> 00:44:01,775
He had red hair,
so he was Pinky Eserhut.

867
00:44:01,842 --> 00:44:03,510
German. Banjo.

868
00:44:04,178 --> 00:44:07,514
Then there was
Frank Kolka, a Czech.

869
00:44:08,782 --> 00:44:10,717
Czechoslovakia.
Bohemian.

870
00:44:10,784 --> 00:44:13,921
He played
a button concertina.

871
00:44:13,987 --> 00:44:18,392
All three of these musicians
could not read a note of music.

872
00:44:18,458 --> 00:44:21,695
There was no music
in sight when they played.

873
00:44:21,762 --> 00:44:24,164
So, we're coming
down the country road

874
00:44:24,231 --> 00:44:26,166
hearing this music.

875
00:44:26,233 --> 00:44:31,104
We come to the Rapp farm,
and all the neighbors are there

876
00:44:31,171 --> 00:44:33,540
and they're congratulating
the married couple.

877
00:44:33,607 --> 00:44:37,244
There's free beer, and these
three musicians are playing.

878
00:44:37,311 --> 00:44:40,848
All the furniture
is pushed aside.

879
00:44:40,914 --> 00:44:42,850
People are dancing.

880
00:44:42,916 --> 00:44:47,054
Dancing the polka,
dancing the old-time waltz

881
00:44:47,120 --> 00:44:49,056
dancing
the schottische.

882
00:44:49,122 --> 00:44:51,124
One, two, three,
hop.

883
00:44:51,525 --> 00:44:55,128
One, two, three, hop, hop, hop,
hop, hop, hop, hop.

884
00:44:55,195 --> 00:44:58,866
I haven't danced
a schottische in years.

885
00:44:58,932 --> 00:45:01,068
But that's how it goes.

886
00:45:01,635 --> 00:45:04,204
Then, in the middle
of it all

887
00:45:05,372 --> 00:45:09,376
Frank Kolka knew
all of the Czech folk songs

888
00:45:10,110 --> 00:45:14,248
tunes from the old country,
haunting songs.

889
00:45:15,883 --> 00:45:18,652
Frank would sit there
and play

890
00:45:18,719 --> 00:45:21,021
and people
would just listen.

891
00:45:21,088 --> 00:45:25,292
Then someone would say
it's time for the polka

892
00:45:25,359 --> 00:45:28,061
and Frank gets back
on his concertina

893
00:45:28,128 --> 00:45:30,063
changes the mood
entirely.

894
00:45:30,130 --> 00:45:33,233
The fiddle starts going,
the banjo starts strumming

895
00:45:33,300 --> 00:45:36,837
and everybody is dancing
and having a wonderful time.

896
00:45:36,904 --> 00:45:40,040
This goes on
until midnight, or so

897
00:45:41,408 --> 00:45:45,212
at which time
there's this enormous meal

898
00:45:45,913 --> 00:45:48,782
that comes out sausa
and dill pickles

899
00:45:48,849 --> 00:45:50,851
and rye bread,
and sauerkraut,

900
00:45:50,918 --> 00:45:54,221
of course you were
always hungry as kids.

901
00:45:54,288 --> 00:45:58,392
We were looking forward to that
big, big dinner afterwards.

902
00:45:58,458 --> 00:46:00,460
Watched people dance

903
00:46:00,527 --> 00:46:02,462
thought that was
kind of strange

904
00:46:02,529 --> 00:46:04,498
to see people jumping around
like they were goofy.

905
00:46:04,565 --> 00:46:06,500
We always enjoyed
seeing somebody

906
00:46:06,567 --> 00:46:09,670
that maybe had one beer too many
and how stupid they were.

907
00:46:09,736 --> 00:46:11,405
[laughs]

908
00:46:11,738 --> 00:46:13,841
Now, there wasn't
any problem

909
00:46:13,907 --> 00:46:17,911
with people being caught for
driving under the influence

910
00:46:17,978 --> 00:46:19,913
because
nobody was driving.

911
00:46:19,980 --> 00:46:21,915
Besides,
once you were outside

912
00:46:21,982 --> 00:46:24,184
if you had a little too much to
drink

913
00:46:24,251 --> 00:46:26,753
after you walked for about
a quarter of a mile

914
00:46:26,820 --> 00:46:28,755
and it was
five below zero

915
00:46:28,822 --> 00:46:30,757
you were in good shape,
you were fine.

916
00:46:30,824 --> 00:46:32,492
[laughs]

917
00:46:37,364 --> 00:46:41,702
We would do that once or twice
a winter, maybe three times.

918
00:46:41,768 --> 00:46:45,038
I don't think people really
realized what was happening

919
00:46:45,105 --> 00:46:47,574
other than
they knew it was good.

920
00:46:47,641 --> 00:46:50,477
Everybody came,
people who liked each other

921
00:46:50,544 --> 00:46:53,447
and people
who didn't like each other.

922
00:46:53,514 --> 00:46:55,449
During those times

923
00:46:55,516 --> 00:46:57,951
the latter years
of the Depression

924
00:46:58,018 --> 00:47:01,855
when things were really tough
all over this country

925
00:47:01,922 --> 00:47:03,924
and in Waushara County
especially

926
00:47:03,991 --> 00:47:07,761
because western Waushara County,
where I grew up

927
00:47:07,828 --> 00:47:11,098
was a sandy,
poor farm community forever

928
00:47:11,164 --> 00:47:13,967
and the Depression
was especially difficult.

929
00:47:14,034 --> 00:47:17,804
Then after that,
immediately comes World War II

930
00:47:17,871 --> 00:47:22,075
when everybody has relatives
or sons in the war.

931
00:47:22,142 --> 00:47:24,144
So, it's a tough time.

932
00:47:24,545 --> 00:47:26,480
But with
these three musicians

933
00:47:26,547 --> 00:47:29,082
oh, how valuable they were
to our community.

934
00:47:29,149 --> 00:47:32,386
You could see they were having
a grand time themselves.

935
00:47:32,452 --> 00:47:34,621
They were laughing
and kidding each other.

936
00:47:34,688 --> 00:47:37,958
I don't know who was in charge,
I guess nobody.

937
00:47:38,025 --> 00:47:40,594
They just said,
let's do an old-time waltz

938
00:47:40,661 --> 00:47:42,596
or let's do
a schottische.

939
00:47:42,663 --> 00:47:47,801
Today, I so much want to give
credit to these rural bands

940
00:47:49,303 --> 00:47:52,573
and especially
Frank, Pinky, and Harry

941
00:47:52,639 --> 00:47:56,443
who made life
so much more pleasant for us

942
00:47:57,578 --> 00:48:01,481
during times
when life wasn't that pleasant.

943
00:48:25,372 --> 00:48:27,040
I enjoy winter.

944
00:48:27,341 --> 00:48:29,576
I like
to see a snowfall.

945
00:48:30,244 --> 00:48:31,912
I enjoy the quiet.

946
00:48:32,246 --> 00:48:36,116
Oh, the quiet of winter
is just wonderful.

947
00:48:36,183 --> 00:48:40,754
When you stand outside
and there's no sound at all

948
00:48:41,488 --> 00:48:44,958
and maybe
a little breeze will come up

949
00:48:45,559 --> 00:48:47,561
and you hear that wind

950
00:48:47,928 --> 00:48:51,198
rustling the bare limbs
of the trees.

951
00:48:51,265 --> 00:48:53,200
Nobody said to do it

952
00:48:53,267 --> 00:48:56,370
that when you are out,
you should stop and listen.

953
00:48:56,436 --> 00:48:58,872
Nobody ever said that,
but we did.

954
00:48:58,939 --> 00:49:01,108
It was a wonderful way

955
00:49:01,175 --> 00:49:05,546
of just getting in touch
with another side of nature

956
00:49:05,612 --> 00:49:08,649
that you don't see
in the summer.

957
00:49:08,715 --> 00:49:10,651
It's a profound experience.

958
00:49:10,717 --> 00:49:14,021
You begin to understand
the nuances of winter

959
00:49:14,087 --> 00:49:16,990
the sounds of winter
that are special

960
00:49:17,057 --> 00:49:20,627
the sights of winter
that are special.

961
00:49:22,863 --> 00:49:24,531
Winter creates

962
00:49:24,865 --> 00:49:27,868
for those who
have grown up with it

963
00:49:27,935 --> 00:49:29,870
an attitude,
a perspective

964
00:49:29,937 --> 00:49:32,539
a way of thinking
that is different

965
00:49:32,606 --> 00:49:37,611
I believe, from those
who've not had that experience.

966
00:49:38,512 --> 00:49:40,480
Now, just as we were
anticipating

967
00:49:40,547 --> 00:49:42,482
the coming of winter

968
00:49:42,549 --> 00:49:46,453
we are anticipating
the coming of spring.

969
00:49:47,421 --> 00:49:50,757
The sun is higher,
and we are waiting

970
00:49:51,758 --> 00:49:56,096
for the first southwest wind
to begin blowing in

971
00:49:56,163 --> 00:49:58,532
because
when the wind switched

972
00:49:58,599 --> 00:50:01,468
from the northwest
to the southwest

973
00:50:01,535 --> 00:50:05,372
we knew that weather
was about to change.

974
00:50:05,439 --> 00:50:09,443
Now, winter
was always reluctant to leave.

975
00:50:11,144 --> 00:50:13,947
So sometimes, it would be
way into March

976
00:50:14,014 --> 00:50:16,116
before we'd wake up
one morning

977
00:50:16,183 --> 00:50:18,752
and the eaves
would be dripping

978
00:50:18,819 --> 00:50:22,022
and walking to the barn,
the snow would be mushy.

979
00:50:22,089 --> 00:50:24,625
In the barn,
you could tell

980
00:50:24,691 --> 00:50:27,694
that not only
did I feel spring

981
00:50:27,761 --> 00:50:30,864
the animals were anticipating
spring, as well.

982
00:50:30,931 --> 00:50:33,033
You could tell.
They were antsy.

983
00:50:33,100 --> 00:50:35,269
They wanted
to get outside.

984
00:50:35,335 --> 00:50:37,271
When you
leave them out there

985
00:50:37,337 --> 00:50:39,406
they are running
like they are crazy animals.

986
00:50:39,473 --> 00:50:42,376
The cows are running
with their tails up in the air

987
00:50:42,442 --> 00:50:44,378
and they're
jumping up and down

988
00:50:44,444 --> 00:50:46,513
and they're feigning
little fights with each other

989
00:50:46,580 --> 00:50:48,515
and the young stock
are roaring.

990
00:50:48,582 --> 00:50:50,651
They're running around the place
like crazy animals.

991
00:50:50,717 --> 00:50:54,321
There's a great excitement now
with anticipation of spring.

992
00:50:54,388 --> 00:50:56,790
So it wasn't
just the people.

993
00:50:56,857 --> 00:50:58,926
Now, walking to school,
spring was a mess

994
00:50:58,992 --> 00:51:00,994
because
the road was muddy.

995
00:51:01,061 --> 00:51:03,797
It was good in the morning,
because it was frozen

996
00:51:03,864 --> 00:51:05,966
and you'd walk
on top of the ruts.

997
00:51:06,033 --> 00:51:07,901
But in the afternoon

998
00:51:07,968 --> 00:51:09,837
you'd come home,
and everything was mud.

999
00:51:09,903 --> 00:51:12,940
My mother hated mud,
and there was mud everywhere.

1000
00:51:13,006 --> 00:51:15,509
The geese
are flying north.

1001
00:51:15,576 --> 00:51:17,578
That's another sure sign.

1002
00:51:17,644 --> 00:51:19,880
I remember
from horizon to horizon,

1003
00:51:19,947 --> 00:51:21,882
when the sun
is setting

1004
00:51:21,949 --> 00:51:24,751
there are geese,
Canada geese

1005
00:51:25,185 --> 00:51:26,854
flying north.

1006
00:51:27,187 --> 00:51:29,356
They knew that
there was spring in the air.

1007
00:51:29,423 --> 00:51:31,892
They were happy and
they were talking to each other.

1008
00:51:31,959 --> 00:51:33,894
I can imagine
what they were saying.

1009
00:51:33,961 --> 00:51:36,797
"Well, Mabel, what do you think
it's going to be like

1010
00:51:36,864 --> 00:51:38,799
in Manitoba this summer?"

1011
00:51:38,866 --> 00:51:40,534
[laughs]

1012
00:51:40,934 --> 00:51:44,838
By May, the whippoorwills
are calling.

1013
00:51:44,905 --> 00:51:47,975
My dad said, "Do you know
what they're saying?

1014
00:51:48,041 --> 00:51:49,977
They're saying,
'Plant your corn.

1015
00:51:50,043 --> 00:51:52,079
Plant your corn.
Plant your corn.'"

1016
00:51:52,145 --> 00:51:53,814
[laughs]

1017
00:51:54,147 --> 00:51:56,783
From the first day
of spring

1018
00:51:56,850 --> 00:51:59,453
everything that we did
all summer long

1019
00:51:59,520 --> 00:52:01,522
was in service
to winter.

1020
00:52:01,588 --> 00:52:03,957
From the last day
of winter

1021
00:52:04,024 --> 00:52:07,160
to the first day
of the next winter

1022
00:52:07,728 --> 00:52:11,064
it was preparation
for that season.

1023
00:52:12,533 --> 00:52:15,369
As I reflect back
on when I was a kid

1024
00:52:15,435 --> 00:52:17,938
way back in the '30s, '40s,
and early '50s

1025
00:52:18,005 --> 00:52:19,940
winters have changed.

1026
00:52:20,007 --> 00:52:23,243
Our winters are not as long
as they were.

1027
00:52:23,310 --> 00:52:25,245
It's been a long time

1028
00:52:25,312 --> 00:52:27,447
since I've experienced
35 below zero.

1029
00:52:27,514 --> 00:52:30,784
In recent years, we've not had
the snowfalls, either

1030
00:52:30,851 --> 00:52:33,353
that we had
in the early days.

1031
00:52:33,420 --> 00:52:37,791
Though we may on occasion
have a hint of a blizzard

1032
00:52:37,858 --> 00:52:40,227
I don't think
I've seen anything

1033
00:52:40,294 --> 00:52:43,197
like we had
back when I was a kid.

1034
00:52:43,897 --> 00:52:46,266
So the season itself
has changed.

1035
00:52:46,333 --> 00:52:50,404
Also, today, there are not
very many people anymore

1036
00:52:50,470 --> 00:52:52,372
who grew up on farms.

1037
00:52:52,773 --> 00:52:55,442
We are in
a definite minority.

1038
00:52:55,509 --> 00:52:58,946
There are only about, oh,
two percent of the population

1039
00:52:59,012 --> 00:53:02,516
in the country that live
on farms and actively farm.

1040
00:53:02,583 --> 00:53:04,618
So it's
a very small number.

1041
00:53:04,685 --> 00:53:09,957
The number of people
who've had a direct experience

1042
00:53:10,023 --> 00:53:12,492
with nature
in the country

1043
00:53:12,993 --> 00:53:14,962
that number
is much smaller.

1044
00:53:15,028 --> 00:53:18,799
And thus, unfortunately
for many, their view of winter

1045
00:53:18,866 --> 00:53:20,801
it's an annoyance.

1046
00:53:20,868 --> 00:53:22,870
It's something
that prevents them

1047
00:53:22,936 --> 00:53:25,839
from doing
what they want to do.

1048
00:53:25,906 --> 00:53:27,808
It interferes
with schedules.

1049
00:53:27,875 --> 00:53:29,943
We had problems
on the farm.

1050
00:53:30,010 --> 00:53:31,945
The pipes would freeze

1051
00:53:32,012 --> 00:53:35,215
and the water heater
didn't work, and the tank

1052
00:53:35,282 --> 00:53:37,351
but that's
a part of it.

1053
00:53:37,417 --> 00:53:40,687
One of the characteristics
of farm people

1054
00:53:40,754 --> 00:53:44,525
especially of my generation
and my dad's generation

1055
00:53:44,591 --> 00:53:48,829
the closeness to nature
I think was never more.

1056
00:53:48,896 --> 00:53:50,564
Why?

1057
00:53:50,898 --> 00:53:54,468
Because the very survival
of farm people

1058
00:53:54,535 --> 00:53:58,672
depended on an understanding of
and appreciation for

1059
00:53:58,739 --> 00:54:01,208
an irreverence
toward nature.

1060
00:54:01,275 --> 00:54:04,945
The idea that you can
control it somehow

1061
00:54:06,313 --> 00:54:09,383
was not
in anybody's vocabulary.

1062
00:54:09,449 --> 00:54:13,353
We are, as human beings,
not apart from

1063
00:54:13,420 --> 00:54:15,322
but a part of
nature.

1064
00:54:15,923 --> 00:54:20,360
Once we realize that the
connection of human beings

1065
00:54:20,427 --> 00:54:25,332
to other life, to the land,
to the weather, water, air

1066
00:54:25,899 --> 00:54:29,570
once we realize
that we are a part of that

1067
00:54:30,871 --> 00:54:32,806
we can relax, enjoy,

1068
00:54:32,873 --> 00:54:35,776
appreciate,
and not be so upset

1069
00:54:36,310 --> 00:54:40,781
when things don't go
the way we think they should

1070
00:54:42,049 --> 00:54:44,284
because
of the weather.

1071
00:54:44,351 --> 00:54:47,354
I learned all that
from my father.

1072
00:54:56,196 --> 00:54:58,565
We were reluctant
to get up in the morning

1073
00:54:58,632 --> 00:55:00,634
on those cold winter days

1074
00:55:00,701 --> 00:55:03,136
because we knew the room
was colder than thunder

1075
00:55:03,203 --> 00:55:05,606
and the hallway outside the room
was colder still.

1076
00:55:05,672 --> 00:55:07,741
You don't have
any heat there at all.

1077
00:55:07,808 --> 00:55:11,411
You knew that the house
downstairs wasn't all that warm

1078
00:55:11,478 --> 00:55:13,647
because Pa
would've started the fire

1079
00:55:13,714 --> 00:55:15,849
maybe a half an hour before.

1080
00:55:15,916 --> 00:55:19,486
He took the stove poker
and rapped on the chimney

1081
00:55:19,553 --> 00:55:21,488
which was
my alarm clock.

1082
00:55:21,555 --> 00:55:25,893
One foot out of the bed, thump,
thump, thump on the floor

1083
00:55:25,959 --> 00:55:28,095
he knew
what I was up to.

1084
00:55:28,529 --> 00:55:30,797
"Time to get up.
I know you're not up."

1085
00:55:30,864 --> 00:55:33,100
So, I'd finally get up,
gather up my clothes.

1086
00:55:33,166 --> 00:55:36,203
Of course, I slept with my
long underwear on and my socks.

1087
00:55:36,270 --> 00:55:40,574
Run down the hall as fast
as I could, down the stairway

1088
00:55:40,641 --> 00:55:44,211
and parked myself in front
of the Round Oak heater

1089
00:55:44,278 --> 00:55:47,147
with the front of me
ce and toasty

1090
00:55:47,214 --> 00:55:50,551
and the back of me
freezing to death.

1091
00:55:54,388 --> 00:55:56,523
<i>A Farm Winter</i>
<i>with Jerry Apps</i>

1092
00:55:56,590 --> 00:55:58,525
was funded,
in part by

1093
00:55:58,592 --> 00:56:00,494
Holiday Vacations;

1094
00:56:02,896 --> 00:56:05,132
Ron and Colleen Weyers;

1095
00:56:06,733 --> 00:56:09,736
the Edward J. Okray
Foundation;

1096
00:56:10,537 --> 00:56:13,207
the Wisconsin History Fund;

1097
00:56:14,007 --> 00:56:18,078
with support from the National
Endowment for the Humanities;

1098
00:56:18,145 --> 00:56:22,716
and the Friends
of Wisconsin Public Television.