Looking out the window today, seeing the snow coming down over already covered land, with the temp down around 18 degrees and a strong wind blowing it all around, I find myself thinking about how the weather inconveniences me. My motorcycle is covered in the garage, and the slippery roads make me hesitate to go out, even in my all wheel drive Subaru. I think about "cabin fever", having "nothing to do" besides a zillion channels on cable TV, the internet, a warm and well lit workroom with all of my tools, several guns just waiting to be cleaned and oiled, and more food in the frig and pantry than I could eat in a week.

And I think about my grandfather, a semi-illiterate blacksmith who came to northern Minnesota at the beginning of the 20th century. He lived with his wife and two sons (one was my father) in a tiny home that he built himself. He felt lucky to have enough wood to keep the fireplace lit enough to keep his family from freezing to death in this kind of weather (and worse). He hoped he had enough food to make it through the long winter when he had little money coming in because the farmers he did work for could not easily get to him in winter. He had no TV, no internet, and possibly the only book they had in the house was a well worn bible. His children played with a few wooden toys that their father made for them and probably didn't complain. My grandfather, like the others living in the upper mid-west in the winter probably went weeks or months without meeting anyone outside of their immediate family.

And should something happen, there was no 911 to call. And even if a physician could be summoned, there was little he could do to help a sick child. The weather could be 20 degrees, or -20 degrees and the animals still had to be tended to. Frozen firewood had to be loosened and brought in to keep the fire going. And he was grateful that he was in America, and not back in Czarist Russia where poverty and starvation were everyday facts of life and a man was not free to worship as he pleased or speak his mind freely. And when his young wife succumbed to the Spanish Flu in 1920, leaving him with two young boys to care for, he somehow persevered.

So I stop and think, I may be getting old and my bones ache more than they used to. I may not be able to get that new motorcycle that I have dreamed of, and may have to dip into savings to get the roof replaced instead. But I know I have it pretty good, and so do most of us.

How lucky I am to have been born when I was, and to be born in this great nation. How lucky to have parents who struggled, but put the well being of their children above their own concerns. How lucky to have been able to go to school and serve as an officer in the U.S. Army, and go on to have five children and now 10 grandchildren. And most of all to have the greatest girl I ever met still willing to put up with me almost 48 years after saying "I do".

So "cabin fever" isn't so bad in my nice warm home. And somehow I'll "suffer" with this winter weather and not feel the least bit unhappy with my life right now.

We have it pretty good, and should remind ourselves of that every day.

Vito:
A great observation and thanks for sharing it. We've kinda reversed places. My Grandfather, a machinist from Germany, settled in Freeport , IL, in a home he built himself along side his wife. My Father and both Uncles were born in that house. They lived there for over 60 years and both Grandparents left this world from that home. They never had a lot, but were rich in so many ways. I spent many summers working alongside my Granddad in his machine shop and have fond memories of that time and town. I am so thankful for what they left me: wisdom, integrity, love of God, Family & Country.
Dave
SWCA #2778

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mr mom
Fire Chief, Retired

Looks to me like his decendants are fairing pretty well from the sacrifices your grandfather made.

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- Change it back -

Amen!

We live like royalty. I have always felt blessed for what I have been given. God bless the U.S.A.

Joe a/k/a MrTrolleyguy

my great grandparents migrated to Michigan from Holland and their children (my grandparents) moved on to northern Idaho to become farmers and woodsmen....my parents met during WWII and raised us kids in northern Idaho trying their best to give us a chance at many things they didn't have growing up during the depression...we do live in a great country that has gone through growing pains and turmoil over the years to emerge still a great nation that people from all over the world want to come to...I got to retire at 58 and have all the comforts I need...I don't have everything I want but am very happy with a loving family and a wife of 47 years...thank you for reminding me to look at what I have and be happy

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carpe diem
one day at a time

Well spoken Vito.
I too am blessed and grateful for everything i have.
We are indeed fortunate to be living in this great Country
as opposed to somewhere else. Sure we have our problems,
but i also think of how poorly some other countries have it
and say a prayer of thanks.
Those who preceded us we're of a tougher stock. They had
little to no disposable time or income and had to work hard just to
survive most times. My hats off to our forefathers for laying
the foundations for what we take for granted each day.
These people had a hard bark on them for sure.
God Bless the USA

Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

I think about this more now than in earlier years. I'm pushing 70 and I find myself thinking about the old folks that are long past. I was fortunate to have 2 grandfathers and I remember doing things with both. One taught me how to plant and maintain a garden. The other gave me an old Eclipse double barrel 12ga and I hunted canadian geese with him. They both did a lot more but those 2 things stand out more. vito thanks for bringing up old memories.

Each and everyone of us needs to thank our and everyone's ancestors for doing what needed to be done so each and everyone of us can enjoy the life we live today; no it's not perfect, but I can't think of any other place, or era I rather be spending my time on this earth.

From what I understand we have more freedom than other countries especially concerning guns but I had ancestors that shot at the British and I am sure they are turning in their graves at what this country has become. As for material things and physical comforts we have things now that make life easier that were not even imagined a few years ago. Larry

Amen.

I am only 61 and have seen such change in our world that it frightens me sometimes.

I grew up in a small town (population 700) in South Texas. There were still a few folks who had dirt floors, wood stoves, and outhouses.

We moved there when I was in the 4th grade and had no indoor plumbing and an outhouse on the property we moved to. My Mom made Dad put in a kitchen sink before we moved in and we had the outhouse for about a year and a half before he got around to building an indoor bathroom. We had no T.V for about six months or a little less.

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Have guns...will shoot'em.

Well said vito.......... but I still don't want to go out and clear my "driveway from hell" ......... so I'll send my 2 teenage boys out......

they have had it too easy lately!......LOL

And like others I worry about the future.