Living in that old wood house not even a 100 yards from the CP rail line was a learning experience for me. The three of us boys in a bedroom the size of a pantry. The two girls had a bigger room. In the summer ,when it rained, out came all the pots and pails to fight the leaking roof. But summer was the time for me and Jim ( my buddy in the hood ) to spend the days playing whatever we felt like. We would strap on our colt 45's and I'd be Wyatt and he became Jesse the notorious outlaw. Somedays building a treehouse was the days mission or sneaking up to the train track and laying pennies to be flattened by the big black steam engine. I can still hear the chug chug of the engine and the hiss of steam as it passed by and the huge clouds of white vapor when the engineer opened the throttle.
When winter came out came the parkas, the mitts, the new boots from the Army and Navy in Saskatoon or the Simpsons / Eatons catalog . Those years were the time when winter always brought snow and lots of it. Job one was banking the house with snow to try and save a little heat from escaping. We went from a pot bellied coal stove to a stinky fuel oil heater in about 1954 ?
Chimney fires were common. Baths were every Saturday night in the wash tub, with water that was heated on the cast iron kitchen stove and in the side hopper. I dont ever remember being first. Needed the toilet, it was out by the back alley. Those bright blue skies against all the snow on the ground made for some unforgettable days .
