The Old Dog Trot House

The Old Dog Trot House

My grandparents, at one time, lived in the old Woolam place in San Augustine County. The old house was divided by what we in the South call a “dog trot” On one side would be bedrooms and on the other would be a parlor, dining room and kitchen area. The “dog trot” would be a hall of sorts that would connect the two sections – today we may refer to the “dog trot” as a wide hallway.

At my grandparent’s house, you would enter through a screened door off the front porch that was the width of the house all across the front of it. The first door to the right was a bedroom with 4 double beds in the same room. The next area opened up to her kitchen. At the end of the hallway – was an old water well – where we would drop the bucket down into the well, once the bucket got heavy, we would pull it up over the pulley and have the coldest, cleanest water imaginable.

On the left side as you came in the first door was a living room – and always in my grandparent’s house – a bed was always in the living room. The next door was my grandparent’s bedroom – directly across from the kitchen.

The living room had a fireplace. During the winter we’d huddle around it. There wasn’t any central air or heat.

It’s funny looking back on those days – we never complained about the lack of heat nor any air conditioning. During the summer, to cool down, we’d pull the mattresses out on the front porch to sleep in the cool breezy night air.

During power outages, a friend who works for the light company says, people actually curse you out because they are hot and without power and air-conditioning. It’s funny how, when we lose a luxury – which we learn to complain, luxuries that many do not have and never have had nor will ever have.

I think maybe we need to learn to endure more – to learn to be grateful of what we have when we have it. And, perhaps along the way, when our own times are tough – we can survive without whining. We had to learn this valuable lesson during the three weeks after Hurricane Rita – when we had no power – no air conditioning. We learned we could survive without it if we have to – and without complaints.