Those words have certainly crossed our minds this week, and they might have echoed through the halls of St. Anthony’s seventy years ago, based on these two Chronicle entries from mid-January 1954:
Cold Weather The 12th of January was the first day this winter that the reading on the thermometer stayed below zero all day. By 9:30 PM on the 16th, the temperature had dropped to minus eighteen degrees.
Ice-Skating Returns A few days of fairly cold weather has again opened the season of ice-skating. Both the river and the pond are in excellent condition, and the clear days make this sport very enjoyable.
Following last week’s string of snowy days that brought several inches of snow to blanket the grounds, an arctic blast arrived Saturday. Overnight temperatures dropped below zero, although not quite and low as in 1954. Daytime highs barely rising above zero greeted us to begin this week. Bright sun, few clouds and no precipitation may make the outdoors seem inviting, but the cold temperatures and biting wind chills did not.
If the weather in 1954 had similar wind-chills to accompany the cold temperatures, the friars must have been hardy fellows to go ice skating in just their woolen habits and a woolen cape. No ice skaters have been spotted so far this year, although a hardy soul or two have left their tracks in the fresh snow. Even a poor wasp, no doubt lured out of hibernation by our warm December, sought refuge from the cold inside our walls. JustBob was working outside Saturday in the bitter cold, relocating the snow around the grounds, but he was wearing a lot more than a woolen habit and cape and has a wind shield on his tractor as well.
Since JustBob worked Saturday, he went home Sunday, took Monday off and came back Tuesday afternoon. While he was gone, of course, one of the boilers decided it could take a couple days off as well. In defense of the poor gal, JustBob said she was the one that usually works the best (and hardest), so maybe she just needed a break after pumping away 24-7 the past week. Regardless, with the cold temperatures and brisk winds outside, her two remaining sister boilers could not keep up with heating this old house, so it was a little cool in the building by Tuesday afternoon.
Back on the job Tuesday, JustBob was able to diagnose the problem and get her back to work. By Wednesday afternoon, the house was feeling a little cozier, just in time for the arrival of our guests who are with us Wednesday evening through Sunday morning. At least JustBob will be around the next few days to monitor all three boilers through the rest of this cold snap.
Some of us hardy Wisconsinites love the snow and cold, others were quite happy with our unseasonably warm and dry December. But nature needs the snow and cold of winter, to offer a time of rest for plants and trees and to add moisture to the ground during the spring thaw, so we do our best to weather the weather. Even finicky boilers that take occasional unauthorized vacations make us appreciate when we do have a warm and cozy house available to welcome guests.
For the blessings of winter’s snow and cold, for the staff and tools to deal with them, for the boilers that keep us warm and the walls that keep us safe from winter winds, we say Deo Gratias!