Pixelmaster Loc: New England

There was a well seasoned marine engineer who was one of my neighbors that had traveled the world in old ocean steamers delivering goods all over the world.
He had grown up on the Michigan peninsula and said the winters were too long.
He bought a piece of property in Vermont that had been built by loggers about 1895. The logs were about six inches in diameter and were put in vertical.
When one rotted out he would just go in the woods and replace it with a new one.
As kids my two sons had great memories of that place which had the original wood stove in it. Pancakes and bacon and eggs off the old stove were one of our best memories. If you are reading this and have young kids take it from me to take the time to do things like this with them.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Nice story and pic.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Life was tough back then.

tradio Loc: Oxford, Ohio

Very nice image!!
Spending time with kids is an important investment in the future.

GummyToo Loc: Eastern Massachusetts

Yes, things were tough back then, but we had our simple pleasures, too, uncluttered by current technology to be in touch with the world every minute. The stove, like the one from my childhood, has the woodbox in the left chamber, the oven in the middle, and the water reservoir on the right. It also was hooked up with circulating pipes to the lead water tank in the bathroom above (no we were not allowed to drink that water). My dad got up in the wee hours (even in the summer) to start the fire, make the coffee, and warm the water for the day. My two siblings sat on the side of the table with their backs to the fire. I sat on the far side, as far away from the heat as possible. Many fond memories of those days, including the dog under the table who was always willing to take a few scraps when Mom and Dad were not looking!

Thanks for sharing, Lamia!

Pixelmaster Loc: New England

The old seafarer did not have a car so I would drive him up to Vermont from New Jersey. Our youngest son was about five years old and our other son was nine. On Friday night I would leave the newspaper where I worked and drive about four hours to the cabin, Arriving just before midnight the only way to see in the dark was with a flashlight. Sleep had already overtaken our youngest son. The next morning the adventure began for both of them. The cabin sat on about five acres but it abutted four hundred of state forest. A trout stream rand past the cabin. Waking to the sound of the rushing water in the stream with the smell of burning wood mixing with the bacon sizzling made the kids know they were not at home. The old man would spin his tales from the sea like how he went on a tiger hunt on the back of an elephant in India in the 1930's. A few inches of snow had fallen and there was a small hill nearby where some cardboard and plastic bags were used to slide on the snow. Running water meant running over to the nearby spring to bring it back for washing and cooking. The evils of the outhouse was another sobering event for the kids who were use the bathroom at home. Years later our grandson was the beneficiary of these days of his father growing up, Just a year ago he and his dad did a seventy five mile hike in New Mexico. To see the harvest of those early years brings me a smile.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

BatManPete Loc: Way Up North!

He had grown up on the Michigan peninsula and said the winters were too long.

I'm from Upper Mich area.... What peninsula [map location] was it??

Pixelmaster Loc: New England

Sorry that I cannot ask him for you since he passed away some time ago.

sailorsmom Loc: Souderton, PA

I really love this wonderful photo, Pixelmaster! We had one that looked just like this in the cabin in Canada that we rented from a friend for our summer vacations! Memories...