In the absence of paved roads, a wet fall could make roads impassable and people waited eagerly for cold weather and snow. It was then time to get out the sleigh and resume visiting with friends and neighbors.

Maud Green remembered that ” ‘Old Jim’ belonged to Grandma Trumbo, & mother inherited him in 1873.  The sleigh bells & a sleigh came with him.”

The sleigh, unfortunately, is gone, although in my childhood it was still up in the hayloft of the old barn. My mother always wanted to get it down and restore it, but it never happened and then the barn burned. However, the sleigh bells are still in existence and are brought out every Christmas to hang on the door. Here’s a reminder of the joys of a sleigh ride: