It was calving season during a very difficult winter when I learned to play checkers. I think about it every time I play checkers...like last night-when my son beat me three times in a row!
I can't remember what year but we were still in the basement part of the house with the shell on top. Every once in a while, Mom sent us up to run off some energy!
It was very cold and piles of wood were at the bottom of the stairs to keep the stove fed. Even in the basement we could hear the wind. The snow was blowing and piled in hard packed drifts against anything that stood in its way.
My Grandma and Grandpa had come up to "get snowed in with us" (they lived a mile away) so they could help with calving. It didn't take long and we were all snowed in together with the electricity finally going out.
Mom is a collector of anything old and had several kerosene lanterns for just this reason. She filled them with the kerosene and trimmed the wicks. Spooky shadows and an odd light filled the room.
For us, it was an adventure. We didn't spend much time with our Grandpa so having him and Grandma snowed in was awesome.
He sat by the Kerosene Lamp drinking coffee and teaching us checkers. My Grandpa had survived a lot in his life and nothing came easy for him and he certainly would of never "let us win" and we didn't! And so we learned checkers by kerosene light.
Kerosene stinks and leaves a black slimy film inside the chimney that would have to be wiped out every once in a while so we could see.
Mom said that the old saying of "Early to Bed and Early to Rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise" came because of that smell and smoke from the lantern. Now I realize she said it when she wanted us to bed so I don't know how true it is!
It's a great memory and I almost smell the kerosene. But I'm still not good at checkers...
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