Modern Life

It’s not going to hard to say what I’m thankful for today.

Pretty simple really – modern life. Yes, I’m thankful I’m alive in 2008 and that it’s not 1908. Why today?

Well, I woke up this morning and the man on the radio informed me that it was minus 45 outside. That’s 45 below if you are used to Fahrenheit – as at –40C and 40 below F it’s all the same. Doesn’t matter what language you speak, that’s just plain COLD.

So, life in 2008 is pretty good. I wake up in a warm cosy bed in a quiet room oblivious to the storm raging outside. Even as my bare feet touch the floor, there is warmth. I head to the bathroom, use the facilities, to turn on the tap and get warm water to wash up and brush my teeth. Then I remember that the man on the radio has warned me of what the world is like outside my modern home so I go to the window to look out. Now here is probably the first similarity to 1908 – it’s completely frosted up as I know the single pane windows of those log cabins would have been, if they even had a window.

I turn on the TV and see the road condition. I know my car is sitting in the garage, so I wouldn’t even have to scrape the windows, just start it and in a few minutes it would be as warm as my house. I decide I don’t have to go outside today as any errands I had planned can wait till next week. My fridge has plenty of milk and eggs and the pantry is definitely not empty. So I plan to spend the day in front of the computer working on business. On my way to my office, I stop to turn up the thermostat a notch and I heard the hum of the forced air furnace kick in. All is normal and warm in my world.

Now, I’ll rewrite this as if it were 1908.

I would wake up under my feather tick and as soon as I stick my nose out from under the blankets, I would know a winter storm had rolled it. My bedroom is freezing as the fire went out overnight. I dread getting out of bed, but I have to go… so my feet hit the frigid wooden floor and I scramble to find cold socks and the my shoes. I quickly dress, double layers, as it’s so cold in my room. Even the clothes are cold. I open the front door to head out to the outhouse but the wind pushes me back in and the force of artic air cuts my cheeks. I decide to not expose all my cheeks to that, so go back into the room and find the chamber pot.

Now to see to the fire. I stir the embers and see it’s not out completely. Soon I have a hot fire going and the kettle on for coffee and the porridge pot is simmering. Needing more water, I grab the bucket and see it’s ice. That’s ok. I’ll set it on the stove and it will melt. I’m just glad I had filled it yesterday. Intuition had told me a storm was coming so I had brought in extra. The room starts to warm a bit and the family stirs. After some breakfast, hubby and I bundled up with all we have, as we need to head to the barn to check on the livestock, milk the cows, gather eggs and make sure everyone is fed and safe in the barn. I say a word of thanks that our community helped us raise that barn last fall or I’m not sure what we’d be doing with our animals. We’d probably loose them in this weather. Everything in the barn is safe and fed so we make our way back to the house. I say another word of thanks that we had put up the lifeline between our cabin and the barn as we’d never have found our way back to the house in this whiteout. Foresight is a good thing… and the wisdom of friends who have lived through Alberta winters before and knew of the potential life threats we would be facing. Back inside, I’m amazed at how warm the cabin feels compared to earlier this morning. Or is it the fact that I just came in from outside and anything is warmer than that. We’re as secure as we can be so I plan to spend the rest of the day quilting and darning socks. I think I’ll put a big pot of stew to simmer on the back of the stove. It’s a good day but I’ll be glad when spring arrives.

Yes, I’m thankful I live today in 2008. I will easily survive this cold spell. Modern life is VERY good.

Father, thank you for determining that I would be born into this time. Help me to appreciate all the conveniences that the 21st century brings our society and to now take them for grated. Keep those that need to be outside safe from the elements, especially our emergency personnel and city road crews.