The vent. It's an ongoing tradition.

Growing up tucked away in the mountains of Montana we lived in an old farmhouse. A farmhouse that was over a hundred years old when we lived there over twenty years ago for twenty some odd years.

In the winter it was absolutely freezing as there wasn't any heat upstairs. We had an oil furnace that was used on a limited basis. The main source of heat was a large wood stove that heated up the downstairs. The door to the upstairs remained closed and if we by chance forgot to close it, the heat would travel upstairs leaving the downstairs cold and us burning from a scolding.

We had to get up quite early as there were animals to be taken care of and things to do before school. Early in the morning means dark, frigid, sniff and the insides of your nose froze together when you were outside. I loved walking across the snow on those mornings because it was so cold and frozen you wouldn't break through.



On those cold and frigid mornings dad would take the coals that had slowly been burning down all night and restart the wood stove. We would all huddle under blankets waiting for the warmth to spread and wrap itself all around us. Some mornings it was so cold that dad would turn on the oil furnace until the fire got up and roaring hot. On those mornings.......it was a race. There was only one heater vent upstairs in the hall. Who ever got to it first,threw themselves across it, and topped themselves with a blanket capturing the heat inside like a cocoon. A cocoon of warmth while the rest of us who didn't win had to go back to our bedrooms and dress in the icy cold. But......if you won.....you could dress under your little blanket of a tent over the heater vent.



This morning after I roused the kids out of their warm beds and started them in the process of getting ready for school I noticed Mr. M missing. I knew were he was. That little stink had gone back to bed! He shares a room with a few other siblings one of which is his baby brother who I did NOT get up. Morning and cranky. You don't disturb cranky in the mornings. I tiptoed into the dark bedroom quietly hissing Mr. M's name. I went over to his bed and whisper yelled at him to get out of bed. Nothing. I whisper yelled a little louder for Mr. M to GET UP! Nothing. I poked the down comforter hissing that Mr. M needed to get up NOW. Nothing. About this time I hear a snicker behind me. I turn around and there laying on the heater vent with a blanket over him capturing the warmth was Mr. M.......who is not pictured as the room was too dark but I found another vent hogger that let me take her picture.

The heater vent lives on!............