Saskatchewan senior reflects on winters from her childhood

A lot has changed in the past 70 to 80 years, including how Saskatchewan residents approach winter.

For people who have experienced their fair share of cold stretches over the years, a few days of -40 C conditions is nothing compared to harsh conditions that people had to put up with years ago.

Pat Trask, 89, currently lives in Saskatoon, but her roots take her back to a farm near Tessier. She recalls brutal winters that had cold stretches lasting much longer than what we are used to in today’s age.

When it came to transportation, Trask recalls winter driving looking a little bit different than what we might expect.

“In the winter, we would travel in a closed-in cutter, which is a sleigh carried by horses,” Trask said. “I can remember one time where whoever was the oldest in the family got to drive home — and at this particular time I was the oldest one heading home. I had three siblings with me when a terrible blizzard started.

“We didn’t stay in town because the horses knew how to get home. We let the lines loose, sat there, and when the horses stopped, we opened the door and we were in our yard.

“It was a great feeling when you saw the house right there. We really developed a sense of loyalty to our horses.”

There wasn’t a thermostat to crank, forcing people to work together to get their houses warm. That required a lot of work in the process.

“There was no conveniences. You didn’t have any electric lights back then and you had to clean the lamps and put fresh oil in them every day so that you’re ready for the night,” she said. “It was a lot more labour to carry the water in from the well; it would always freeze against the pails.

“We would chop so much wood to bring in. We would bring in lots of coal too. It was very heavy work for the whole family. It was about surviving.”

The province experienced a lot of hardship during the Great Depression of the 1930s. That meant money for new mitts or winter clothes was not a possibility.

“My family was very poor. There wasn’t such a thing as going out and buying something. We relied on somebody giving us something, giving us fabrics and things that we could use,” Trask said. “My mother did a lot of cutting up and patching. I remember having a big patch on my coat underneath my pocket.

“It was something that was given to me, but it was the only thing there for me for that winter.”

Trask said she recalls winters lasting much longer than they do now, adding most harsh cold stretches would last weeks at a time.

“Things were dangerous because you didn’t have any protection from fires. If you had a fire in your house in the wintertime, well, good for you if you could stop it because nobody could get there to help you,” Trask said. “There was lots of times a house would burn down and leave everybody with nothing.

“Frostbite and frozen toes and fingers were very common. It was always a long way from home if you had any trouble on the road. There is a lot of winter storms that stand out.”

The worst storm that Trask could think of was in 1955 when she had a newborn baby.

“The winter storm came up lasted 2 1/2 days,” she said. “Our house wasn’t that airproof; it was very drafty. I remember worrying about getting my daughter through that blizzard.

“It was scary for it to last that long with a newborn in my care.”

Trask has lived in Saskatoon now for a number of years and says the move was best for her because of her age.

Despite all the harrowing winter experiences that Trask had in rural Saskatchewan through the 1930s and ’40s, her upbringing is not something she would change.

“I miss digging in the dirt and watching my flowers grow,” she said. “I don’t think that feeling ever leaves you. I have done what is best for me at my age and stage in life, but you don’t ever quite take the country out of a person.

“I never forget the past.”