Musings: Mid-Winter Comfort

~by Mark Blackwell

There are lot of folks who look forward to the winter months. They can hardly wait to indulge in skiing, sledding, ice skating, and hockey, “dashing through the snow,” and “walking in a winter wonderland.” I suspect that there are even some people who get all tingly contemplating shoveling their driveways. But that’s a tribe I don’t belong to—anymore.

Back in my younger days, sometime in the mid-part of the last century, I could get excited about a big ol’ mid-winter snowfall, especially the kind that heralded school closings. I remember sliding down big hills at breakneck speed, building snowmen, and tracking wildlife. I also remember spraining my ankle ice skating on a farm pond, snowball fights, and getting smacked senseless by hard-packed ice-balls to the head.

I remember breaking ice to water the livestock and wondering how old the youngest person was to die from a heart attack shoveling snow. I remember being frozen to the bone. We didn’t have any fancy North Face insulated underwear and “puffer” jackets like they have now. I did have a SearsRoebuck long handled union suit, complete with the flap in the rear. And I remember, at times, wondering what hypothermia feels like…and is this it?

Well, I am not young anymore, and I am not interested in how much punishment my body can endure. I am now more than fifteen years past my first senior discount and I have learned many lessons over the years, chiefly, if nature puts something on the ground, it is not necessarily my job to rake it or shovel it.

However, enough of reminiscing about winters past, let me tell you about how to enjoy a good snowfall or any random winter day for that matter.

First, you need some essential equipment—a comfortable chair, doesn’t really matter what kind just as long as it’s comfortable. It’s also nice to have some kind of lap robe to keep the chills at bay. Second, you need a good source of radiant warmth. That can be anything from a wood stove to a fireplace, or even a space heater. Third, a warm libation, coffee, tea, hot cocoa, or toddy, if you like. And fourthly, a good book to get lost in.

To help you out, I’ve made a short list of books concerning the history and culture of Brown County.

My first choice is a history book from 1884, Counties of Morgan, Monroe and Brown, edited by Charles Blanchard. You can find editions at your local library. It contains general historical overviews of the county as well as the development of the various townships, up to 1884. The bad news about the book is that it is 800 pages long, not including the index. The good news is that you can skip the first 678 pages because they are histories of the other two adjoining counties.

The next book is: If You Don’t Outdie Me, by Dillon Bustin, 1982 Indiana University Press. This is a book about Brown County in the 1920s, based on photographer and journalist Frank Hohenberger and the folks he photographed. It is a very intimate look at some of the folks who still populate the stories and myths of the county. It is my favorite telling of Brown County in transition from the “county that time forgot” to artist colony and tourist destination.

Another good general history is History and Families Brown County 1836–1990 by Dorothy Birney Bailey. This is a locally but professionally produced history of the different aspects of Brown County—from the first settlers, to the schools, churches, and post offices. It covers various prominent families and enterprises that made up the economy. Like If You Don’t Outdie Me, this history is generously illustrated with photographs. For county residents, there is a lot of information about families which are still here and might be your neighbors.

I am sure there are folks out there who wonder about just who is this Abe Martin character and what’s he got to do with Brown County, anyways? Well, the next book on my list, The Best of Kin Hubbard, by David Hawes, is a good introduction to the feller who said, “Talk is cheap or some folks would be broke all th’ time.” And “A friend is like an umbreller. He’s never there when you want him, an’ if he is, he’s broke.”

Frank McKinney “Kin” Hubbard was a selftaught artist who worked at The Indianapolis News as a sketch artist and caricaturist. It was there that he created “Abe Martin” in December of 1904. He moved him to Brown County in early 1905, where he stayed for the next 26 years commenting on whatever topic caught his attention. Abe is pretty much the heart of the county.

Any list of books about Brown County must include The Artists of Brown County, a1994 large format book by Lyn Letsinger-Miller with a forward by Rachel Perry. From the turn of the 20th Century right up to the present,Brown County has been home to a colony of artists of national and international repute. This volume contains stories of 16 artists, along with a generous assortment of color reproductions of their works.

So, there you have it—a good way for cold weather haters to stay warm and comfortable. Just ignore the frosty miseries and educate yourselves. And maybe when the rest of you come in from the weather, you will consider settlin’ down in a rockin’ chair, warmin’ up by the fire, and learnin’ a little more about good old County Brown.