Hallway Door to Library

I awoke this morning to the sound of rain pounding on the roof two stories (if you count the attic) above me.  Hard, hard rain coming straight down.  No wind.  I had been dreaming about doors, specifically the doors in this house.  I don’t know if the dream and the doors were connected.

So, as we sat and sipped our morning beverages (me, coffee; Nyel, tea) we talked about the doors in this house — the interior doors.  There are ten upstairs and another ten downstairs.  Upstairs includes bedroom doors, closet doors (two of which are bifold) and a bathroom door.  Downstairs, there are ten,  as well, including one pocket-door.  All  of them are in the eastern, two-story part of the house and, as far as we know, all but three of them date back to 1869.   The three outliers (including the pocket door) belong to a small addition of bathroom and closet made by my folks in the ’70s.

There are no interior doors in the area of the house that my grandparents “incorporated” by converting the existing attached “out-buildings” into living room, dining room, and kitchen.  It was the 1915 version of an “open floor plan.”  But, even then there was no electricity in the house.  I wonder how warm two fireplaces and the wood-fed kitchen range kept that part of the house during the cold months.  No wonder my grandmother wrote to Medora in January 1916:

The Library Fireplace

The “town” has been coasting every night and of course Sue has gone.  We will be glad when this unusual spell has passed, tho it shows no signs of leaving yet.  In fact, snow is falling at intervals today and the wind howls…  I have a pair of papa’s underdrawers over mine today.  Papa insisted and I am glad he did, for I feel warmer.

It occurs to me that even by thinking about our interior doors and considering our modern heating options, we are counting our blessings on this rainy January morning!  A perfect start to a new day.  Especially a cold and rainy one.