Day 439: 5 Minute Freewrite: Wednesday - Prompt: warm water bottle by @blueeyes8960
This is an entry to @mariannewest"s Day 439 5 minute freewrite. The post is here if you'd like to join in. Today's prompt is :warm water bottle
Growing up Poor
I grew up poor, not a crime, lots of people do. We had several rent houses during my childhood but the old frame farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere was my least favorite.
There was no central heat or running hot water. The bathroom (no toliet - it was head to the outhouse, rain or shine, hot or cold, daylight or black of midnight) and there was a claw footed bath tub with a hand pump. You had to heat water in a bucket on the wood stove to pour into the cold water you pumped in.
Speaking of heat, that wood fired cook stove in the kitchen was the only source of heat. It was nice and cosy in the kitchen, but oh boy were the bedrooms cold in the winter. I shared a bedroom, and only 1 bed, with my 4 year old brother. It was a war getting into that bed when the sheets were ice cold. It took forever to make a warm nest with body heat and you tended to lay exactly where you created that little pocket of heat. Do I need to mention how cold the floors were?
The redeeming bit of comfort was an old hot water bottle. Mom would fill it up and put it between the sheets just before bedtime. It was our own little bit of heaven.
we grow up and look back at the things we went without and for you, at the time, I bet it wasn't nearly as unusual to you as you think now. We heated solely by wood stove when I married and it was cold! Pregnant I top loaded the old wood stove in the middle of the night. When the sink in the kitchen collapsed I had to wash dishes in the tub, but I had warm water. I hope all is well now and thank God for your warm water bottle. Nice job!
!tip
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Yes my boys just shake their head and look at me when I tell about those days. They think its like the urban legend our grandparents always say "yeah, in my day, we walked 12 miles to school in 1 foot of snow, barefoot, and all uphill." Lol. Well here's to better times and a great new 2019! Thanks for the tip, and for showing me how to do it! !tip
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Hey you paint a vivid picture with your words. I can tell you're a very experienced writer, have you published?
Thanks for the compliment, big praise from someone like you who's writing I admire. I've never published, but if I hang around here long enough and learn from all you pros, I just might get there someday! I did have Good Audience on Medium put me in as a writer because of a couple of crypto pieces I had done. I really enjoy doing the contests.
You're on medium? Send me link?
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I got cold just reading this. Nice #freewrite.
Postal tip: Postage rates going up, send your cards and letters today 💌
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https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-440-5-minute-freewrite-thursday-prompt-new-laws
Things mothers do to take care of us. They are greatest inventors. Thank God for the good times @blueeyes8960
Brrrr! Still shivering with just the thought of your old and cold, childhood farmhouse. It sure makes you learn to appreciate the things most people take for granted though, doesn't it? :)