from the pages of an old diary – the weather
For any given date, the first entry in my great-aunt’s diary is a note about the weather. Weather was important to my great-aunt. It dictated what could be done during the day, if a wash could be put on the line, if she could go out walking to visit family and friends, and if a fire had to be kept going.
She described the weather in various ways: ‘nice fine day’, not very cold’, ‘dark day’, ‘fine very cold’. Sometimes it just says ‘nice day’.
Bad weather was sometimes called a ‘dirty cold day’ (April 11, 1957).
Some days were described in a bit of detail. On September 23, 1957, she wrote, ‘fine in the morning very windy cloudy in late p.m.’ On March 20, 1957, she wrote ‘a big snow storm on drifting and blowing.’ March 21, 1957, the first day of spring, says ‘roads all blocked still snowing some’.
Christmas Day, December 25, 1957, was ‘quite cold, a few snowflurries’.
On November 26, 1957, it was so cold, she wrote ‘I washed, clothes froze before I could get them on the line’.
It might be interesting to compare the actual weather records for 1957 with the weather she recorded!
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September storm
-response to a diary entry for September 5, 1957
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Thurs. rained hard last nt [night] also thunder and lightning.
Dad took car up to L.S. to fix. I made dough-nuts [and]
biscuits, did a small wash. went up street.
– A.M.W.
~
last night dismal, thunder wobbled
the windows, a leak
in the pantry, the rain in curtains
across the yard, forked lightning
the clothes pole vulnerable
car would not start, the driveway in runnels
freezer and the day’s baking
at the mercy of indecisive
electricity
~
~
© Jane Tims 2012
- socks and mittens knit by my grandmother (my great-aunt’s sister)
Copyright Jane Tims 2012
nichepoetryandprose 
I used to take weather readings in my backyard when I was growing up. It’s always been an interest of mine, so I can understand this!
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Watching Seasons
February 14, 2012 at 5:18 pm
Hi. I remember measuring rainfall in a measuring cup when I was a kid. In the 1980’s when I worked with air quality, I used to watch our volunteers take readings at stations set up on their properties. Today, we are constant weather watchers since my husband plows snow in winter. Jane
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jane tims
February 14, 2012 at 9:26 pm
Taking note of the weather is something people never get tired of doing! When my kids were little I used to hang clothes out on the line – I loved it – and would listen to the weather radio each morning to see if it was a good drying day. When I read what your grandmother wrote, “I washed, clothes froze before I could get them on the line,” it made me smile because that happened to me a few times and I found it a remarkable thing, the stiffness of the clothes and yet the frozen water did evaporate – I think there’s another word for it. 🙂
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Barbara Rodgers
February 10, 2012 at 6:33 pm
Hi. I can imaginge the clothes going on the line and being quite uncooperative! Jane
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jane tims
February 10, 2012 at 9:45 pm
This makes me want to keep a domestic diary of my own, although I’m not sure if future generations would be as interested as I am in such mundane details, the ordinary magic of the everyday.
Wonderful poem and sketch, Jane. 🙂
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Robin
February 9, 2012 at 5:42 pm
Hi Robin. My great-aunt’s diaries, on first glance, are just the recording of everyday ‘mundane’ life, but things change so much, taken a a whole, they give a wonderful record of what life was like. I’d encourage anyone to keep a diary, and then put it in the hands of someone who’ll save it!!! But guess what!!!, your record of your wanderings around your bogs are a great record of what one aspect of life is like for you today. Jane
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jane tims
February 10, 2012 at 6:44 am
Do you have the diary? I’d be thrilled if I had something of this kind from my grandmother or an aunt. Loved your sketch too.
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northpenninegallery
February 7, 2012 at 4:48 pm
Hi Keith. I have an e-journal I add to very sporadically, and I have my ‘rough books’ where I keep notes, revisions and thoughts about my writing. I am lucky to have the diaries and letters of my great-aunt and my mom to help me with my family history. I’m glad you like the sketch. Jane
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jane tims
February 8, 2012 at 6:47 am