The planning of the Cossack School Reunion started a chain reaction of memories. What was it really like to live for six years in the thirties in a 10' x 12' shack set in the middle of the apparent wilderness? Now, from a distance of over 70 years, and being blessed with a very convenient memory that tends to forget the unpleasant, I remember primarily the adventure, the joy of living and being young. But what was it really like?

The first winter (1931) was mercifully mild allowing me to adjust to the circumstances for the shack was not insulated or banked, and had no storm windows or storm door. It was heated with a wood-burning stove that had to be filled constantly. The furniture had to be arranged carefully because there was not sufficient space to rearrange it without taking the bed apart or moving something outdoors. The south side had a corner were along the west wall, a bed, and a chair was along the north side, along with a space on the wall for clothes on hangers. There was a trunk on the east side on which one could sit if the books were pushed aside, another chair, the door and the corner cupboard again. A place for everything and everything in its place! The cold storage was an apple box nailed on the north wall outside of the shack.

There were a few very cold winters. Water which was boiling in the kettle in the evening would be frozen solid in the morning and hoar frost would form on the quilt and pillow. Dressing for bed was a complicated ritual. On very cold mornings it was better to dress fast and start the fire in the heater in the school to warm up.

Our water had to be carried from a shallow well near a creek not far from the school yard. Later there was a well with concrete cribbing near the shack.

Was it lonely? Yes, sometimes the loneliness was like a pain, a sickness, when it was a comfort to touch the rough bark of a familiar pine or walk a little ways after school with the children holding on to my hands. There was no need to give it a negative feeling. There were so many positive things to do besides the survival chores. There were the long walks to visit each family, lessons to be prepared to fill a complicated timetable of at least 60, five-minute instruction periods per day, books to read, the number limited only by ones ability to buy them. There were letters to write for oneself and business letters for neighbors.

Was I nervous or scared to live alone with no close neighbors? I was a little nervous, at times, of unfamiliar events like the sounds of footsteps along the length of the shack roof for several nights. Then one evening, on returning from a visit to the neighbors, I saw the big gray owl that was making the sound, pacing up and down along the roof. Other sounds like the sound of the wagon wheels on the trail that ran past the shack or the squeak of the sleigh runners in winter, or a knock on the door were friendly sounds for those times of good will and trust and fear and suspicion had no place.

One fall there was a forest fire and when I returned to school in September the tall pines still burned like torches. At night I watched through the window and wondered which way the fire was moving.

I am sure that the teachers who followed me have different stories to tell for times were changing. I have no regrets for having spent six years at Cossack. I think back and remember the friendships and the co-operation in the community.

Other articles from the June 13, 1979 issue of the Signal:

	Radway News
	H.A.K. Art to be Displayed in Europe
	Deciding the Sentence
	Judge Ted Wade
	Judge Michael Tomyn
	Wheat Board Questions and Answers