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Monday, January 23, 2023

MID-CENTURY SNOW

During our regular Sunday evening phone conversation, brother Chuck reminisced about shoveling snow at the family home in Orofino. The house sat on a corner lot, and what’s more, it was a double lot, so he had to shovel from the alley to the corner and then across the front of the house and the “side yard,” which was the width of another city lot, not to mention the walkway to the back door and the front steps. 

Chuck remembered one year back in the good old days when he shoveled 18 inches of snow one evening, only to get up the next morning and shovel another 18 inches of heavy snow. He said this is a chore he didn’t miss when he left home. 

I love this photo of our mother taken by my dad in 1959. Daddy suggested it, and I remember Mother putting on her coat, boots, and that wonderful winter hat/scarf and going out to stand under the red hawthorn tree. She loved the snow. KW

4 comments:

  1. I still love the look of snow--it's so magical. Love this picture of your mom and knowing that it was your dad's idea makes it even more special.

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  2. I agree a snowy scene is magical.

    Note Mother's winter garb. I had a pair of winter boots like that, and I hated them. Why? They were different from everyone elses. They were like bags -- wide at the top. I was in Junior high before Mother realized I didn't want to be different. Anyway, I admit that they were easy to use, and I wish I had a pair now.

    Also, note the bare leg above the boot. That's the way it was in that day. I walked to school with cold legs all winter long. I never wore pants to school.

    And her hat was a pillbox type with an attached scarf -- something else I thought was different but wish I had today.

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  3. My memories of times in Orofino are few, but there was one winter that we were there with a lot of snow and we burrowed a tunnel in a big snow heap created by someone's shoveling efforts.

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  4. Orofino was a different world from the LC Valley, probably because it sits at a higher altitude and is nestled between the mountains. I'm glad you have that memory, Hallie.

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