OAK LEAF LEGACY-CHAPTER-31-SG-Y-1-WINTER

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                              CHAPTER-31-SG-Y-1-WINTER                 


    The residents of Oak Leaf were all getting up early on the first Tuesday morning which was the first day of winter in the year of 1845.They didn't know if it would be a harsh winter with snow and blizzards piling the snow up so lost travelers would get buried in drifts and snowbanks or if it would be an easy winter with no snow though it might get very cold with thick frost on the ground.
    The families living in Oak Leaf at that time felt it best to be prepared for a hard winter even if it wasn't going to be a hard winter because they came from Russia and had always had long hard winters in the homeland before immigrating to become pioneer settlers out west in North America and in the new South Dakota territory which was to become a state one day.

     Tanner and Tracy Ivanovitch were waking up to find there was thick frost on the gound though there was no snow at all and it was still dark out as they got ready to tend their indoor garden.The Jankowskys were also waking up to a frosty morning without snow which meant their outerwear was fine for the conditions.The town's residents were all looking at being prepared for possible snowfalls.

    The families in town were all taking care of their daily chores each day as they moved though the winter season and got closer to the arrival of spring and of the year 1846.It was turning out that the farmer's Almanac for 1845 was right about it's predictions for the winter of 1845 being a dry winter without any snow covering the ground though there might be frost from the cold temperatures.

    The Jankowskys were also managing to stick to their daily schedule and do their daily chores of tending the garden and clearing the old newspapers up each day when the new paper arrived.The days were going by very quickly and everybody was managing to get to work on the days they had work and to get studying done on their days off or to get out and find places where they could have fun.

    The town residents were still waiting for the first snowfall of winter and it still wasn't happening even after five days into the season.It had been clear and sunny for five days straight in the winter so far and it looked like the trend was going to continue for even longer.It was still very cold out even though it was clear and sunny every day in the season.They did know that a dry winter could occasionally happen.

    Eli and Ami Jankowsky had been tending their garden every day for the last six day and it was another clear sunny day getting started and would be the seventh straight day of clear sunny weather so far that winter.There were residents of towns like Moberly,Aberdeen and Bullhead who were very worried that the dry winter could affect their crops the next growing season.

   There were to be more clear sunny days in Oak Leaf that winter and they eventually saw that it could be used to their advantage to get some small additions built on their houses.It was also cold and they did need to wear winter clothing meant for cold and dry weather though it didn't need to be suitable for snow.They suspected that it might become wet in the spring and there might be a wet summer.

   The Ivanovitch family had to deal with their own struggles because their garden was getting too big to manage without it causing them to have issues getting done before work.They were also needing too much sleep at nights because of issues with not being able to upgrade their beds instead of having to buy expensive bed.They hoped that upgrading a bed would be an option one day.

    It was getting very close to the end of winter by then because there was only about three days left in the season.The residents of Oak Leaf read about a stagecoach being robbed by a band of outlaws near Aberdeen and the Aberdeen sheriff was after the bandits that robbed the stagecoach and one of the families in that town.The report in the paper was that the outlaws were still on the loose near Moberley.

    The residents in Oak Leaf had been getting to bed at reasonable times every night and getting up early each morning so far that winter.It had been clear and sunny weather for most of that winter so far and they wanted to see the end of the season though it had been an easy winter which had meant easy travel for those needing to travel and for outlaws who were looking to commit robberies as always.

    The Ivanovitch family had a large garden to tend to and that was going to keep them busy for the day as usual in the last days of winter.They both knew that the outlaws fleeing from Aberdeen after committing the robberies were heading towards Moberley which was near Oak Leaf and only 30 miles away.




                        FIRST WINTER'S END(OUTLAW ATTACK)

      The residents of Oak Leaf were all in bed sleeping until the Ivanovitch family got woken up rudely as their burglar alarm went off.It quickly became clear that there was an outlaw attempting to break into their farmhouse to rob them and that the sheriff was going to come and try to bust the outlaw.The brawl started before they got outside to investigate the cause of the alarm.

    Tanner saw a fight going on outside their house and started cheering for the sheriff and wanting the outlaw to lose the fight.The sheriff was wanting to catch this outlaw and make sure the family being robbed got the reward of 500$ for the capture of the unkown outlaw from near Aberdeen.This disturbance was already keeping them up for hours and costing them valuable sleep they weren't recovering later.

    The sheriff had to take a look around the property to make sure nothing was taken before taking the outlaw to the local jailhouse to detain him.They had finally guessed that the outlaw gang had seperated and they were no longer traveling together which made it harder to find the gang.This disruption was taking so long that they might not even get back to sleep and end up being exhausted.

    Tanner and Tracy Ivanovitch were grateful to eventually be able to get settled down and get themselves back to bed for a little more sleep before it was time to get up for the day.They decided to let themselves sleep in a little bit so they wouldn't be as overtired though they would get tired enough to get a good night's sleep after getting to bed at their correct time after having gone through their day.

    They woke up later than they intended to and found it had been clear though it was beginning to cloud over and it started to pour rain before too long.They were having to run through the pouring rain to get to their workshop to tend their garden and they knew they'd likely not get finished before having to get ready for work.It was finally the last day of 1845 and the year of 1846 was coming.
   The residents of Oak Leaf had been excited to finally be past their first winter as new settlers in North America living out west in the prairies.This was the only hope any of them ever had at being able to own their homes instad of renting or being homeless.They were looking at getting things improved on their lots and adding to their homes over the coming year.
    The families of Oak Leaf were both already making plans for the future in their new hometown for the next generation and for the later generations of their families.There were also plans to make a great place to raise families in Oak Leaf though it was always going to be a small town.


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