It finally rained. And it stormed. And it blew.
It rained cats and dogs.
And our roof leaked.
It has leaked before, but we thought it was fixed.
Traditionally, the only time we discover leaks is during a rain, right?
This time, the leak followed the addition that we built on the house 15 years ago.
While reading my e-mails, I mentioned to Fred that I sure was glad we didn’t live in a “soddy,” or in a cottage with a grass roof.
“Huh”? He looked at me sideways.
I had been reading about this very subject on an e-mail this week.
When the pioneers built their dugouts, the roofs were made of sod and grass. When it rained, or leaked, the first arrivals on the floor were often snakes and spiders. They lived in the soil on the roof, after all.
Can you imagine a snake dropping to the floor and slithering on the bed, or on the baby, or the table?
“Early houses had thatched roofs with thick straw-piled high and no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof.” (Notice. Not only ON the roof…IN the roof)
“When it rained, it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying, ‘It’s raining cats and dogs’.”
“There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That’s how canopy beds came into existence.”
We are certainly privileged people, living in dry houses, expecting the elements to never invade our lives or change our comfort. (Tornadoes nonwithstanding!)
We are blessed above all.
And that’s not all.
“The floors were dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the term, ‘dirt poor.’
The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way.
Hence, ‘a thresh hold.’
Good night. I clean up mud that gets tracked into the house, or I wipe up a spill, or I might sweep cereal that spilled on the floor after the grandchildren are here. But to imagine the entire floor covered with slippery, damp, straw, and kept from spilling out the door only by a raised molding? Can you imagine how soggy and smelly it would be after a rain? Or consider the insects living the straw? Mites? Bedbugs? Ticks? Spiders?
I don’t think we could adapt very quickly to this mode of living.
Well, then, if the cats and dogs were sliding off the roof, and the floor was covered with straw at least one could clean up with a bath, right?
Not exactly.
If there was a water supply and/or if you collected water in water barrels when it rained, then a bath was a possibility. Heating the water, and then pouring it in a big tub was a lot of work. Ahhh. A nice warm bath?
The man of the house had the first privilege in the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men after, then the women, and finally the children. The babies were last.
By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, ‘Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water!’ ”
I hope you enjoy knowing where these expressions originated. And I hope we all appreciate our luxurious mode of living in this 21st century.
The leak in our roof isn’t such a big deal now!
“A Woman’s View” is Judi Tabler’s reflection of her experiences and events. She is a wife, mother, writer, teacher, grandmother, and even a great grandmother. Contact Annie at pprarieannie@gmailcom.
Leaky roof inspires phrases
A Woman's View