Jan 4, 2012 … Tell Them You Saw Their Ads in The Prairie Times … www.prairietimes.com… Prairie Times 9 Dorothy Johnson


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nsects, mice, and snakes loved the dark cellar below our house.


They controlled that underground space as far as I was concerned. The crickets sang to their hearts content, and the mice darted across the floor. Once, a bull snake eyed us from the rock stairway wall beside us. We screamed and fled. Each time I confronted one down there, my heart began pounding. I turned, ran up the steps, and called for help. Canned goods lined the shelves


on the rock and mortar walls near the entrance. A darkened cave extended beyond an open arch. Cobwebs hung from the beams in the ceiling. Large, covered crock jars sat on the floor and on the table in the corner. Fresh milk or cream filled some of the crockery. Some contained pickles, smelling of dill. Near Christmas time, dried lutefish soaked in brine were down there. One could argue whether the slimy, bland taste and fishy smell was worth the hours of preparation for a holiday dinner. The light from the open cellar


door barely reached into the unlit cave. The stale, cool air smelled of dirt and potatoes, onions and other root vegetables, that covered most of the dirt floor. The cellar topped my list of


scary places. Yet, it was a place of safety when a Kansas windstorm or tornado threatened. The family hurried down the rocky stairs and Dad slammed the door shut above us. We waited there around the dim light of a candle or lantern. In the cave, with my parents, however, I almost forgot the creepy, crawly things when a storm threatened. ♥


“Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it.”


—Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables


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