Everyone has their own criterion for measuring heat. Today at this age in my life I have say that’s when it’s too hot to fish. On second thought I guess too hot to fish has always been my principle for heat limits.

I have to say that tolerable summer temperature’s is one of the outstanding tenets for living in the Adirondacks. I find that the Allen household can best be described as an air conditioning salesman’s worst concept. The household that I grew up in would have been their dream if conditioners existed then and at a price we could afford. Our front porch was the most popular part of our home in July and August. A screened-in porch, if we had had one, would have been the closest thing to heaven I could have imagined. Every evening after supper the grownups gathered there until dark; my mother relaxing from cooking, baking and canning on a wood fired stove, my father from his work selling bake goods door to door and Uncle Mart from work in the fields. When we kids joined them it was a sign it was really hot. If the porch had been screened in it would have been better because we would not have had to burn a smudge in an old pail to keep the mosquitoes and midges away.

Before the war a cold water tap to the kitchen sink was the only inside plumbing we had. There was no cooling shower to relieve the dirt and grime from the hot day’s activity. It was sponge bath or nothing at all. If us kids were lucky and had not fouled up we might get to go swimming. My father had an old Willys Whippet panel truck he would load us in the back and take us up to the Old Oneida River swimming hole. In the time before the river was dammed the site was a fording place and encampment for the Oneida Indians. The banks were made up of layers of shale which they used to make tools and arrowheads. The adjoining fields were treasure troves for finding artifacts.

We had a back porch where my mother cooked light meals on a two burner kerosene stove with mica glass windows on the doors so you could see to adjust the flame. We ate light meals when it was hot. One of my favorites was on Sunday nights when everyone had been loafing around all day trying to stay cool. We had gigantic strawberry shortcakes with whipped cream made from cream from our old Jersey cow. Of course we had any number of fresh vegetables from our garden so salads were always a part of summertime meals during the season.

The war changed everything in our lives and the lives of all our neighbors. My mother and father both worked in Sweet’s Paper Mill one of four on the Oswego River, about four short village blocks from our home in Phoenix N.Y. My father would take us three boys down to the mill and we would take showers in the basement of the mill with hot water from the boilers that heated the paper pulp in the beaters. It was not long before we added inside plumbing and all that went with it. We even ended up with a used GE refrigerator and were able to make ice cubes in. Until you have had to do without the cooling effects of ice on hot days, you have no idea of what a luxury that is. Can you imagine the impact that had on my great-grandfather who was 90 and my great-uncle who was 70? We grew up in the same home with both of my great-grandparents and my uncle on my father’s side. My mother took care of them along with four children and my father. She cared for all three older people until they passed away at home in that house.

Heat and cold are the two things I remember the best about growing up. The heat more so than the cold because we had plenty of wool clothes and bedding to keep us warm. Cold beverages were a luxury and well water from the back yard pump was as close as most people were to it in those days. The work in those days was labor intensive and one had to be careful about drinking too much cold water impulsively. It can make you violently ill.

The farmers had a home remedy that they made and called Switzle to avoid getting sick. It was made up by the farm ladies and plenty of it was on hand during haying time. You may want to try it some time. To two quarts of water add 1/4 cup of vinegar, 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon ginger. It was said to quench the thirst without causing any after effects. Anyone want to try it?

The thought for the week is you never miss the water until the water runs dry.