The Honey-Do List

My great-grandfather, Turner Hefley, was a coal miner in Hillsboro, Illinois, a job he started as a young man in the 1890’s and pursued for most of his working life.

The Clover Leaf Coal Company, like most others around the country, had a steam whistle that was loud enough to be heard all over town. A simple code determined by the length and number of blows signaled the beginning and ending of shifts, for instance, and it was blown late every evening to let the miners know if there was work the next day. What nobody wanted to hear was a long, steady blowing of the whistle, which indicated a disaster at the mine, such as a cave-in or explosion.

Although meant to communicate to the miners, everybody knew what the whistle blows meant. When Great-Grandma Hefley heard the whistle telling the miners not to report the next day, she would lay awake making a mental list of all the chores she wanted him to do on his day off.

That story came to mind last evening when, in the midst of our huge winter storm, the long list of school closings was scrolling across the bottom of the television screen. I wondered if the mothers of Mid-Michigan were thinking about putting their children to work cleaning their rooms, washing up dishes, and folding laundry on their day off.