Cabin Fever

An anonymous person left me a message telling me that he/she liked my witty blog posts. I never thought of myself as witty so I must thank you for the message as it offers encouragement for me to get blogging once again.

The Midwest has suffered through three Polar Vortexes and steady snowstorms sprinkled with rain causing a particularly icy winter. Many Midwesterners including me have suffered from cabin fever. All this weather has dried up my skin and my genealogy mojo. So I am very grateful for someone’s interest in my little blog.

Last week I met up with some friends one being a friend who lives here in the U.S. but was born in Ireland. Her family lives in Ireland and she is lucky enough to travel between the two countries.

I was struck by a comment she made. She noticed that people in the U.S. look at life in a very linear way and that the Irish have a very cyclical way of looking at life. Her statement got me thinking.

Tortured as I am with this winter weather, I realized I was thinking in a linear manner.

Of course, winter was not going to go on forever. We are not entering another ice age. Winter will give way to spring. It always does. Her statement gave me hope. Temps are beginning to moderate even as I write.

The Dollen Farm about 1900. 

Simultaneously I wondered about my ancestors and what they would think about our wintery weather. They were not blessed with double paned windows, modern insulation and indoor plumbing. Were their homes drafty? Did their wood burning stoves keep the family warm? Would they consider this descendant to be a bit of a whiner and tell me to toughen up? Probably.

Hanging in there….

Linda