Castles had Dungeons, We Had a CELLAR 12-13-17

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Castles had Dungeons, We Had a CELLAR - Excerpt from my book 12-13-17

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We lived in new England and an integral cellar was necessary to a house to keep pipes from freezing and it was here canned goods and garden roots were kept in bins of sawdust through the winter. The wall was lined with shelves that held row after row of mason jars holding canned fruit, vegetables, greens and lot of tomatoes. Folks did not buy much canned goods in the store back then.

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Under the Cellar stairs were two and sometimes three large CROCKS.. big earthenware pots or jars about 30 gallons each. One held Dill Pickles, Another Sauerkraut, and the third pork fat in layers of salt.. Dried plants, herbs and roots hung from the beams overhead as well as hard sausages made in the fall.

It was chilly in the Cellar but it never froze, the temperature hovered around 40 degrees all winter, about like a large 'walk-in-cooler'. As a boy I was never afraid of the dark, inside or out and I liked to be sent foraging down in that netherworld with a pan to come up to the kitchen with crisp carrots, potatoes, and a mason jar of this or that for Mother to cook.

After I was no longer a toddler, "Mommie" became "Mother" not Mom back then, and it was "Grandmother" not Grandma. Father was sometimes called "Papa" but never Daddy. My parents did not like nicknames and so I was addressed by my full given name, or given plus Christian name in church. In orthodox churches, A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious and personal name historically given on the occasion of a Christian baptism. It often is that of one's patron Saint, who is sort of like a guardian to help you in times of need. Some are general saints, like St. Christopher that anyone may pray to for help and safety in traveling. My Christian Name was Andrew who was also my patron saint and it followed my first or given name and came before my middle name. I knew I was in Deep Trouble when I heard my name shouted "Daniel Andrew Dennis" LOL

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When Winter boredom struck me as an only child, the Attic and the Cellar were two places I could go for adventuresome play. In the Cellar I was a knight in armor with my wooden sword hunting the fearsome "Wumpas" or a sleeping Dragon. The Wunpas was later to be turned by someone into an early adventure computer game, but back then I knew him from "books". The Wumpas was invisible and you could only tell where he was by his smell or breath or the sounds he made (which really came from open floor vents above me). The book said one had to be careful, because the Wumpas was especially fond of eating young boys! :O i would slash with my wooden sword muttering "Take that you old Wumpas!"

Our Cellar was never totally dark, because 2 floor vents above kept the Cellar from freezing and let a little light down, less than a modern night light but enough to see without walking into the shelves. When I was sent down to forage, I was handed a flashlight, but batteries were too precious in those days to waste on play, so I hunted the Wumpas in near darkness. It only added to the adventure. I could hear mother call me to eat so I headed for the stairs with a final word "see ya later Wumpas!"

In slightly warmer climates the Root Cellar might be separate from the house but in the far north of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, it was all one big room down there. Later a coal furnace would be installed down there but right than we had only 2 wood stoves upstairs and no central heating. That furnace would later become another play monster with two glowing eyes and a grill of glowing teeth.

There were rows of Bins with sawdust in which were buried potatoes, carrots, turnips and hard cabbages and Hubbard and acorn squashes stored on the soft top, Bushel baskets of apples sat along a bench and once a week or so, someone would come down and pick out the rotten ones which were fed to the pigs or chickens. Other house and garden things were stored in corners and there was an exit to the outdoors up some cement steps with two heavy doors that folded upward.

I think houses should have cellars today.. great places to store produce and fall canning.. and all little boys should have a place to go and hunt the fearsome Wumpas!

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