One of my first memories as a young boy was sitting in the window sill at our old house on Sloss Road.
Brown asphalt siding of simulated brick was rolled on the heart-pine planks of the old house, which stood waist-high on cinderblocks. I spent many rainy days playing in the red-clay dust under that old house.
The siding didn't insulate much, but it kept the winter wind from whistling through the cracks in the walls, but the cracks around the windows were another story.
There were windows on every wall of the house. Each window had two four-paned panels; one on top and one on bottom. The windows were part of our cooling system in summer.
We had a huge box fan inserted into one of the living room windows and each night before we went to bed, we'd open the windows by our beds a few inches, and turn the fan to exhaust.
It was powerful enough to suck the cool night air through the cracks, and across us as we slept. We didn't get air conditioning until many years later.
We have the same kind of windows in our old house at the back of the property. Last year when we were renovating, I removed one of the windows and leaned it up against the ancient oak anchored in the yard.
It sat there for a few weeks, and when it came time to put it back into the frame, I noticed a thin sheen of moss growing on one of the panes and I snapped a photograph with my phone.
Tonight as I struggled with a topic, I came across this photograph. I know the story is thin, but I love the picture.
Brown asphalt siding of simulated brick was rolled on the heart-pine planks of the old house, which stood waist-high on cinderblocks. I spent many rainy days playing in the red-clay dust under that old house.
The siding didn't insulate much, but it kept the winter wind from whistling through the cracks in the walls, but the cracks around the windows were another story.
There were windows on every wall of the house. Each window had two four-paned panels; one on top and one on bottom. The windows were part of our cooling system in summer.
We had a huge box fan inserted into one of the living room windows and each night before we went to bed, we'd open the windows by our beds a few inches, and turn the fan to exhaust.
It was powerful enough to suck the cool night air through the cracks, and across us as we slept. We didn't get air conditioning until many years later.
We have the same kind of windows in our old house at the back of the property. Last year when we were renovating, I removed one of the windows and leaned it up against the ancient oak anchored in the yard.
It sat there for a few weeks, and when it came time to put it back into the frame, I noticed a thin sheen of moss growing on one of the panes and I snapped a photograph with my phone.
Tonight as I struggled with a topic, I came across this photograph. I know the story is thin, but I love the picture.
I grew up with those same kind of windows in a farmhouse in PA. The house was two school houses that had been moved and joined together to form our house. It was cold and drafty in the winter and hot in the summer- the windows were rattly on a windy night- xo Diana
ReplyDeleteMy windows are extremely rattly... I sear most of them are the originals when the place was built :)
ReplyDeleteActually it is a great story. I had totally forgotten about the old asphalt siding used back then. Your 'simulated brick' description brought it vividly back to memory.
ReplyDeleteMy papaw used to show me pictures of his house that he grew up in and I swear thjose windows look very very similar. I wish he were around so I could show him this picture :)
ReplyDeleteWe got along very well in the summer with just fans for cooling when I was a kiddo...now, I'm a spoiled rotten A/C chick! I love the pic of the window..mysterious looking!
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