Man 3: Yeah, I remember that. Old Mrs. Scant had hung her bloomers on the line over night and by morning they were so frozen that when the wind picked up, her bloomers shattered like a glass tumbler.

Man 1: Oh yeah, like I believe a story like that.

Man 3: It’s true. I remember the winter of ’48, too. It was so cold that even the smoke coming out of the chimneys froze solid, and everyone had to climb the roof to chisel it away.

Man 2: I remember that winter. I was just a kid and had to walk ten miles to school BOTH WAYS. By the time I got indoors again, my mother would have to prop me up by the stove to thaw me out.

Man 1: Oh, and I suppose you had to chop through 3 feet of solid ice to get water to drink.

Man 3: Nah, but I did have to chop through 4 feet of ice to let the cattle drink. At times I had to haul wood to the water trough, start a fire around it and still chop through 2 feet of ice before the cows could drink.