January 30, 2019: Brrrr

It was -8 when I got up this morning.  Wind chill was -35. Brrrr……. It made me think of my ancestors.  They lived in the wilds of New France, in log cabins.  There would have been a fireplace. Odds were the early settlers didn’t even have windows, doors may have just been an animal skin hanging over the opening.  How did they survive?  My central heating is keeping me warm, when I had to go outside, I started my car and let in warm up, then dashed out to a warm interior and drove the few miles to my destination.  And I complained about the cold.

My early Canadian ancestors didn’t have any of my luxuries.  I can picture them wrapped in animal skins coats, leggings and leather boots.  They would have had to venture into the frigid Quebec winter to care for their animals, to go to church, to do what they had to do.  At home, Mother would cook over the fireplace, or in more affluent times, maybe an iron cookstove or potbelly stove.  The kids would do their chores, possibly their lessons, though most were illiterate. Then they would huddle near the only heat source in the house.  Father would do the hard outside work; hunting, trapping, caring for the livestock, then he too would come in to warm up.  That would be after he hauled in enough firewood for the rest of the day, the coming night, and the morning. The houses were probably only 12 X 16 or so, but there wouldn’t have been insulation, just log walls.

Yet, from what I know, the families sang often, told tales, played games and pranks, and in general were a fun- loving people.  They raised their families in hardship and deprivation.  They were survivors in a strange land, and I am proud to be descended from such a hardy people. 

This is an artist’s rendering of an early Quebec cabin.