“We cut blocks of ice to fill the entire ice house; & then cover those chunks of ice with a layer of sawdust. Special effort is then made to fill the cracks between the blocks and the outside edges of the building with sawdust, to act as insulation. Additional layers of ice and sawdust will continue to be added in jigsaw fashion, until the house is full….a unique way for items of importance to be preserved”
This is the conversation I hear every mid January while working at the MAC. Interesting, huh? Yes, and I listen as one of our “older adults” (80) would tell younger gym members the plan. Every year the “Princes” take a day and complete this task.
Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Prince and a few others who relish keeping this heritage alive, pass it on to their children, and their children's children to this day.
The Prince cabin stands, and beside it is an ice house...an ice house to preserve food …acting as refrigeration… it's a must to do this in January if they are going to enjoy their stay in June, July,& August.
The pictures taken on this beautiful January day with several of our MAC members are a keepsake to me and a history lesson in digital form. Something I can pass on to my grandchildren, who, when they are old enough, will still not understand totally.
Read on as I explain these pictures...On a January morning early one Friday, Jerry and his crew, numbering between 12 and 15 would make their trek to the lake, cut out the chunks of ice, cracking and chipping away.(hard tedious work, not for the faint of heart) And then proceeding to strap this ice to a large sled,they wrap rope around it, pulling the sled to the top of the hill…it’s here where they unload their load and would lay the ice on the ground within this icehouse. I would hear how it's important to leave cracks in-between & to fill the cracks with sawdust.( Can you just imagine if that chunk of ice could talk? ouch!)
The women were there …some helped, others watched from afar, and at days end, they closed the door to the ice house.
Done.
Some how during hot summer months everything remains frozen to preserve fresh meat and other items needed to be kept to help through tough winter months, and to enjoy on warm evenings.
This whole ordeal is an amazing feat, that my mind has a bit of trouble wrapping itself around to understand…perhaps it’s not for me to understand, just look at it and believe. It’s what they did and still do today…I love to hear them talk about it.
Jerome Prince, he’s an amazing ingenuous man.
But wait…I know of another “Prince”…the Prince of heaven, the Prince of Peace, He too was broken and hit, bruised and cracked, thrown not on plastic, but on wood…He hauled up a hill. If I remember right I believe it was the hill of Golgotha. Many people had a hand in it; women were there also... and watched from afar.
He never said a word...
This Prince was taken to a tomb and laid there , and instead of sawdust they wrapped him in a clean linen cloth.
And then…
they too rolled a great stone in front,to seal and close it off.
Done.
I’m thankful He arose on the 3rd day…it's what preserves man to this day. Had it not been for Jesus dying and rising again, I shutter to think what would have become of mankind.
It matters not how many times I hear this told or how many times I read it,I know it's a vital part of my Christianity which never grows old. It's a part of history that had to happen back then...so we could enjoy life today, and heaven yet to come.
I remember one time as a child, I could not understand the concept of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...how they were one and yet individual.
My mom in her wisdom explained it like this...look at the Trinity as water...water is one element, and yet it can be 3 totally different substances.
1) God / Water
2) Jesus / Ice
3) Holy Spirit / Steam
I'm taken aback today by #2 and this story with pictures, how ironic & very similar at the end of Matthew is the story of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
...pass it on.
See you in March
