Keeping Warm in Winter

“We’d have to tote wood and put it in the fireplace. We’d gather around the fireplace and we kept the fire burning just about all night sometimes. We’d burn oak wood, mostly. But really any kind of wood. Any kind we could get hold of.” -- Carl Bishop

"I loved all of Oscar's people. I loved all of them. They used to come to our house and the wind would be a-blowing. You know some nights the wind would blow awful hard in those country houses, you see. Sometimes couldn't even see outside. But Oscar would come and bring all them kids, including Carl, bring the little children to our house. And through the night Dad would put wood on the fire. It was so cold and the wind was just a-blowing. Ma would go to taking off and making up pallets for his crowd and her crowd. And you talk about a crowd -- she had one, then! Lot of times she'd put ashes in the children's cot -- hot ashes. The coals would keep us warm." -- Tela Shedd Whitlock