20 It Happened in Iona

on the post, the box itself in turn being free wheeling on that frame. With this arrangement, those mailing letters normally turned their box at right angles to the road to “warn” the driver that there were letters inside. In a similar gesture of respect, the mail driver would then turn the box parallel to the road to indicate that the mail had been delivered. These little niceties were perhaps not greatly needed nor always adhered to, but they were employed to some extent and were another of the interest- ing sides of country living.

Horses gradually became accustomed to stopping at the boxes along the way and were quite adept at crossing to the other side for boxes there. At the same time, this routine could spoil a horse for ordinary road travel. Our brown Monty, in particular, developed the nasty habit of stopping abruptly whenever he met or overcame a pedestrian along the road.

As youngsters we were often eager to accompany Dad along the mail route, especially in the sleigh seasons. On these ven- tures I soon became fascinated with the great night sky with its moon and stars, big dipper, milky way and northern lights. Added to these was the search light from the airport twenty-five miles away which swept the sky every few seconds. Then there were lights from the neighbors’ kitchens, mostly dim from oil lamps, a few bright from gas lamps, and lanterns being carried to and fmm the barns as the last chores of evening tidied up the day. Cuddled under a buffalo robe in the hay-filled sleigh, one glimpsed first hand night’s quiet beauty and sensed real mys- tery in this meeting of earth and heaven.