It's Time for Another Nostalgic Sunday
These cooler autumn temperatures always make me sentimental. Going back to school every fall was one of my favorite things; shuffling along side streets and purposely walking where I could crunch through dried leaves, the chill in the morning and night breezes, and some warmth in the sunny afternoons.
And the smell of the first burst of furnace air.... Ahhhh.... I was given that gift this weekend. There's only a couple of odors that immediately carry me back in time and this is one of them.
The house we lived in until I was seven had a coal furnace in the basement. I remember seeing the delivery truck come by and unload a bunch of loose coal down a chute, and also seeing my dad shovel coal into the furnace.
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What about you? Do you have any memories of furnaces or fireplaces?
"There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October." -- Nathaniel Hawthorne
My grandparents lived next door. Their basement was my playground in winter and on hot summer days. It had a coal room, with a little metal door to the outside, even though they did not have a coal furnace at the time. The room was converted into a book room by my grandma. It had shelves floor-to-ceiling on all walls, and a piece of carpet on the floor. I can still picture the battleship gray paint of the shelves and the wooden door.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the dose of nostalgia!
We had to have the heat going here too....it's that wonderful cool season...which I adore!
ReplyDeleteI grew up with a wood stove as our source of heat. I used to sometimes go out on the tractor with my dad to the back woods, to drag home a tree he had felled...and always helped carrying logs of firewood downstairs. Boy, he must have saved a fortune, making his own heat with free wood! Wish I could do that now.
Thanks for sharing...you made my mind take a trip down memory lane! XO
Ciao Bella
Creative Carmelina
....always reading you!
I love the cooler weather. We now have gas fired central heating. This house had electric heating when I moved in - which would have cost the earth if we had ever used it. I remember a small (too small) warmray in the lounge which burned wood when I was a child. Heat never got more than a couple of feet away from it. 'Put on a jumper/sweater, if you are cold'. I was. Memories...
ReplyDeleteI was in the country this weekend and smelled leaves burning. That transported me back to age four when my grandpa used to rake big piles into the gutter and set them ablaze. Did you know you won at Brett Cogburn?
ReplyDeleteI do indeed remember the rumble of the coal down the shute and the distinctive smell of an oil furnace kicking in for the first time in the season. We have gas now (in the furnace!!) and it isn't quite the same.
ReplyDeleteMy grandma had a coal furnace when I was very young. I don't remember much about it, though.
ReplyDeleteYour post touches on something about fall. There are so many scents connected to it: burning wood/leaves, pumpkin bread in the oven, apple cider. Love it!
Pat
Critter Alley
I love fall too Becky it is my favorite season - love the temps - I feel so alive.
ReplyDeleteWe have traveled up into the mountains of NC...and it's COLD here! 40s now...50 for our high today! But we're having fun. I posted pics of some of my 'kids' today...hope you can stop by and 'meet' them! Sweet hugs!
ReplyDeleteI remember my grandparents "gas" stove. It was in the dining room and you could see a little bit of flame through the window in front.
ReplyDeleteI miss having a fireplace in our house. I think that we are going to get one of those nice electric ones surrounded in wood for the living room and put the t.v. on top.
Kathy M.
I do have a few memories - one being from my grandparents' hunting cabin in upstate PA. We made popcorn and mountain pies and sat around and visited. It was great fun! :)
ReplyDeleteWe lived in a very old house and had fireplaces in several of the rooms. So I remember the smell of that and how good it felt on cold days to back up to the fire. And we had these fancy iron with a marble top gas space heaters in all the rooms. I've never had a coal furnace, but I have had an oil one in a house we rented when Mr. M was in law school and I in grad school. Some mornings we would wake up freezing,and that's because the furnace would be out. There was no way to know when. It was termpermental that way. ;-).
ReplyDeleteFun post!
xo,
Sheila
In New York, boilers were most common. They sent up steam heat to the apartments. I remember the feel of warmth as it filled the rooms, and the clanky sounds that came out of the radiators. Hadn't thought about that in such a long time. Thanks for the memories.
ReplyDeleteI sure do remember the coal furnace and the outdoor potty too. lol!!
ReplyDeleteOnce again, your memories are also stored in my mind! You caught the mental picture well for me. My grandmother had a coal furnace in the basement..someday I will write about that.
ReplyDeleteWe had a natural gas floor furnace and my dad would light the pilot light with a match stuck in a metal handle thing.
ReplyDeleteLovely October quote at the end, Becky. I have always loved the smell of bonfires. For some reason, it always takes me right back to my childhood. It's funny how sights, sounds and smells can transport us back to an earlier time, isn't it? Hope you are keeping well.
ReplyDeleteGood evening everyone! I apologize for leaving a "One Comment Fits All" kind of comment, but today got away from me. Vern was sick, but he's better now. I had a migraine, but I'm better now, and The Ronald didn't have the best day at work, but he's better now! That's why I stay happy 99% of the time, because I've had the gift of HOPE all my life and I know that things always get better! Thank you all so very much for your lovely comments. I'm always thrilled when my memories make others happy! :)
ReplyDeleteHello Becky,
ReplyDeleteI too, had a furnace like that! I remember it so well. When my sisters and I were teeny tiny, we thought it was a monster! Then later, as we got a little older, my big sister lost her fear of the behemoth and used to hide her cheese and pimento sandwiches behind it....to be found years later Lol!
Hugs,
Terri
I LOVE that smell of the furnace the first time it runs for the season!
ReplyDeleteMy memory is of being a kid and waking up with frozen toes. I'd sit in front of one of our kitchen cabinets where the air came straight out (instead of straight up, like the floor vents). I'd put my frozen toes there to warm up. I knew there was a sensor in the furnace, because it knew when to turn on-- I just didn't get WHERE that sensor was. I always figured that whenever it wasn't on, if I stuck my toesicles close enough to the vent, the heater could tell how cold they were, and then it would turn on. I swear it was YEARS before I found out I was wrong!
Hi Terri and Peggy! Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteI'm thrilled when some of my posts evoke memories for people!
My parents just turned the heat on this week and I love the smell. It reminds me of high school because when I was growing up we lived in hawaii and we didn't need a furnace. But when I got to high school we moved to the land of cold and I hated it. But now I love the change in the air. Reminds me of being young. sigh.
ReplyDeleteHi Erin! How wonderful to hear from you! Welcome back to blogging! Thanks so much for stopping and commenting!
ReplyDeleteThe first blast of furnace air. I can smell it right now, just reading those words...
ReplyDelete;)