For two days the temperature was fifty below, and I can
assure you that things hummed! The logs of our house made loud reports
like pistol shots, and there was frost on the walls of every room that
were not near roaring fires. No one ventures forth such weather unless
compelled to do so, and then, of course, every precaution is taken to
guard against freezing. In this altitude one will freeze before
feeling the cold, as I know from experience, having at the present
time two fiery red ears of enormous size. They are fiery in feeling,
too, as well as in color.
The atmosphere looks like frozen mist, and is wonderful, and almost at
any time between sunrise and sunset a "sun dog" can be seen with its
scintillating rainbow tints, that are brilliant yet exquisitely
delicate in coloring. Our houses are really very warm--the thick logs
are plastered inside and papered, every window has a storm sash and
every room a double floor, and our big stoves can burn immense logs.
But notwithstanding all this, our greatest trial is to keep things to
eat. Everything freezes solid, and so far we have not found one edible
that is improved by freezing. It must be awfully discouraging to a
cook to find on a biting cold morning, that there is not one thing in
the house that can be prepared for breakfast until it has passed
through the thawing process; that even the water in the barrels has
become solid, round pieces of ice! All along the roof of one side of
our house are immense icicles that almost touch the snow on the
ground.
Pages:
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245