What kind of heat did you have in your home?

Heat is an essential part of our lives when we live where we have cold winters.  There are different ways of heating our homes.  Record what kind of heat you had in your home and compare it to the heat you have now.  Have you had any times when you didn't have heat?  What did you do during those times?

When I was growing up we had a coal-burning furnace.  It had a hopper that had to be filled with small lumps of coal.  Depending on how cold the weather was, it might have to be refilled twice a day.  That was one of the chores I remember doing.  If we forgot to fill the hopper and it ran out of coal, the furnace would start to smoke.  Instead of nice warm heat throughout the house, there would be smoke.  We would have to evacuate the house, open all the windows and doors, and wait for the smoke to clear out.  I did like the warmth of the coal fire.  The heat vent was right beside my bed.  I liked to stick my feet out of the covers and over the heat vent when the blower turned on.  It was so nice to have warm feet.  

My grandmother had a coal-burning stove in her house to provide heat. When we would visit with her, it was nice to sit close to her stove and get warm.  One winter when I was attending college in the city where she lived, I would go to her house on my lunch break and bring in coal for her stove.  My aunt checked on her in the morning and at night.  That was a wonderful time that I got to spend with my grandmother.

When I first got married, we moved into an older house that had two natural gas floor heaters.  They provided pretty good heat, but with a baby, learning to crawl, it was scary that she might get burned.  We soon replaced the floor heaters with a central furnace that provided heat to each room.  We also installed a wood-burning stove for backup heat.  I was grateful for that stove one October when a heavy early snowstorm took down tree branches all across the city.  One of the trees in my yard took down the power line to my house.  So many power lines were down across the city that it took three days before the power company could get to my house to repair my line.  So I built a fire in the stove, and we were able to stay in our house despite the freezing temperatures outside.

Now I live in a house with radiant electric heaters in the ceilings.  It is easy to just turn on the heat when the temperatures get cold.  I do have a fireplace so I could use it as backup heat if needed.  But sometimes I do miss that warm coal heat we had when I was growing up.

 

 

Fireplace Cat Poster
by AquaBubbleCreations

Record your stories about heat as part of your life story.

Surviving Disasters

Have you been in a disaster? What was it like? How did you cope with it? 

 In my lifetime I have heard and read about disasters. I have seen pictures and videos. I have felt sorrow for those who suffered so much loss. It may have been a tornado that destroyed houses and cars and businesses. It may have been a wildfire that destroyed homes and even cities. It may have been a hurricane that caused floods as well as wind damage. It may have been an earthquake that caused buildings and overpasses to collapse. It may have been a war where many lives were lost as well as communities destroyed. It is one of the things we have to deal with living in this world. 

Depending on when you live and where you live, you will probably experience disasters, Write about what happened in your life. Did it affect other people or was it just a disaster for you? Was it a short-term disaster that you recovered from quickly or did change the rest of your life? What caused the disaster? Was it a natural occurrence or was it because of what someone did? What emotions did you feel? Fear, sadness, and anger are all common emotions during disasters. How did other people react to it? Did someone have compassion for you and help you through the difficulty? Unfortunately, sometimes people take advantage of the situation and try to help themselves by hurting you. I was told by our local Sheriff's office that it was quite common after someone dies for theft to occur in a family and fighting over who gets what often occurs. Death is a time when compassion is needed but may be lacking. Did you feel cared about or taken advantage of?

 I have experienced some personal disasters that affected my life and my family's life, but I have not been a part of a widespread disaster until now. The Covid-19 Virus Pandemic has affected me even though I live in a small town and there are no known cases of the virus here. Economically it has affected me as some of my efforts to earn money have not been fruitful with the closure of non-essential businesses in our state. All of my daughters have lost their jobs because of the closure. There is a fear of encountering the virus. Since it is invisible, you just don't know if you may have already encountered it or if you may encounter it anytime you are around other people. For most people who encounter the virus, it could be a minor illness that may not even slow them down; but for some people it is life-threatening. Since Covid-19 is a new virus people do not have an immunity to it. It is spreading fast. So here I am trying to not feel afraid, but it is a scary time.

Red Sun and Trees Photo 2020 Folded Greeting Card
by storykeeper

 Have you had a time in your life when you said, "This can't be happening?" It would be nice if we could just stop things from happening that we don't want to happen. Sometimes talking about what is happening can help. But sometimes you can't talk about what is happening when it is happening. Writing about it can be another way to help deal with what is happening. Finding things to be grateful for even in the midst of adversity is good. Even if no one else reads what you have written it can be helpful for you to have written it. The adversity you have gone through may uplift someone else as they see how you dealt with it and came out of it.

 I have been reading a family history book. It is difficult reading because it is about a time of persecution and war. I do feel so sad for those ancestors with what they had to deal with. The future was full of fear and uncertainty. I know they went through some difficult things, but they did have some very good things happen in their lives afterward. Reading family history can help as you see the tragedies your family went through and you also see the blessings they received too.

 When I was twelve years old, our family experienced a fire. We had thousands of chickens that provided our family's livelihood, and we had a fire in the main coop. It was a very sad time. We couldn't get the chickens out of the coop so we lost the majority of the chickens. My parents, though, focused on how the fire didn't spread to the smaller coop or to the corrals and especially how it didn't spread to our home. They were grateful for the firemen who responded and made sure the fire was all the way out. They set an example of focusing on the positives even when the negative was overwhelming. I am grateful for the people who had bought eggs from us, who came back as customers when the coop was rebuilt and more chickens were acquired.

The most devastating incident in my adult life was a car crash. It resulted in the death of three family members. It meant hospitalization for one of my daughters and for myself. I spent four months in the hospital before I was allowed to go home. My life totally changed after that. Some physical effects have continued throughout my life. Economically it was really hard. Emotionally it was hard.

We do learn and grow from experiences even when they are hard. Make sure to include the difficult things that have happened in your life along with the good things. Record your feelings and how you dealt with things. Some day someone may benefit from reading about your experience.