When I was young my mom would wash clothes and hang them out on a clothesline in the front yard. Some days the weather would turn cold before we brought them in off the line and they would feel like they could break if you accidentally dropped them on the ground. Brittle Britches!
I think about this whenever the weather turns bitter cold. I grew up in a wood-heated home and we woke up many chilly mornings seeing our breath. We warmed our clothes in front of the open oven door to get ready for school.
We keep our house at a “cool” 62 degrees at night but I know we are spoiled…this isn’t even really cold.
Of course we have done all the cold weather demonstrations for our exchange students over the years…throwing hot water off the deck with a ladle and watching it freeze before it hits the ground or using a frozen banana for a hammer and blowing bubbles in the cold…very impressive to all of us but even more so if you’re from Guatemala!
I have tried to explain the triple dog dare of sticking your tongue to a flagpole in freezing weather but ever since I froze my bottom lip to a culvert I have not risked a demonstration! One of the most painful experiences of my childhood and not one I would wish to repeat. Too far from home to get a cup of hot water, I panicked and ripped all the skin from my lower lip. I looked like a prizefighter for weeks after that.
I think the best way to deal with extreme cold temperatures is to stay inside, warm under a heated lap blanket, with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book. Spring will be here before you know it. Until then, use the dryer, not the clothes line and avoid “Brittle Britches”!
It’s so cold you can
cut your breath and
use it to build an igloo.
Anonymous
Taste of Home columnist Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus lives on a farm in South Haven, MN with her husband, Michael, and their children Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her heart remains on the North Shore where she grew up with her parents, Art and LaVonne Anderson of Schroeder. She enjoys writing about her childhood and mixes memories with delicious helpings of home-style recipes.
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