Well, winter is upon us and these cold nights sure do make the heat from a wood-burning heater feel good. There seems to be nothing better than standing by a real fire to warm up. This reminds me of a story about a little boy and a wood burning cookstove.
Some of you will still remember the wood-burning cookstove we used back in the good old days – the kind that had the warmer across the top, the fire box on one end, the eyes and the oven in the middle and a big vat for hot water on the other end. This is the kind my grandmother, whom we called Granny McAfee, had when she lived in Ruby, Alabama. The kitchen stove always made the corner of the kitchen warm late in the afternoon, in the early spring or late fall when the afternoons were cool.
When our brother Dale was about 3 years old, he had a hard day playing. He was tired and sleepy this particular afternoon when he finished his supper. He slid down from the bench at the table and began playing with the cats who were resting around the kitchen stove. Seems like everyone had cats around the house in those days. The cats walked around behind the stove and Dale followed them. Dale, being tired, having a full tummy, and sleepy, laid down behind the warm stove and fell into a deep sleep.
Sometime later, when the dishes were washed and put away, then it was time to put the children to bed. Mother was ready for the nightly chore of getting us bathed and off to bed. Our sister, Frances, and I were there, but Dale was nowhere to be found. This created a panic, and everyone began to search for Dale. We looked through the house, searched the yard, looked in the well and through the barn, but still didn’t find him. Daddy took a lantern and searched all the way to the branch where we watered the mules and back but didn’t find him. By this time we were almost in a panic stage.
All the calling and Francis going through the kitchen crying finally woke Dale up. Then he came crawling out from behind the kitchen stove and wanted to know what was going on.
Mother didn’t know whether to spank him for scaring the living daylights out of us or hug and kiss him and be glad he was alright. Hugs and kisses won out. This was quite an experience – being asleep behind the kitchen stove.
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