To quote E. Joseph Cossman, “The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep”.
I think it should be written into the city, territorial, and federal charters. Every citizen who resides in Canada should be entitled to a peaceful night’s sleep, preferably in a warm and cozy bed of their own. Particularly in the winter. I believe that if everyone had a good night’s sleep, it would solve a lot of our problems and make the country a much better place.
We live in a Northern country, one that can get a lot of snow and cold, so we must adjust to our environment to get that warm and cozy bed. Historically, many Northern cultures would have the whole family sleeping in one bed, because it was warmer that way. Some even housed their cattle, livestock, and horses in one big, long house because the animals gave off heat and were protected from wild predators.
There is an old northern adage, ‘The family that sleeps together stays warm together’.
If hunters were out on the land with their dogs, the expression ‘three-dog night’ was coined. Yes, there was a musical group in the 1970s by that name, but the original idea was to bring a few dogs into your tent or cabin at night to sleep on the bed with you: one dog for a cool night, two dogs if it was going to be cold and three if it was going to be darned cold. One dog for your front, one for your back and the third for your feet. The person shared their heat with the animals and vice-versa.
If it was frigid out you could add a fourth, fifth or sixth dog, but you can only fit so many dogs onto a bed or into a tent.
I can remember bush camps, on short jobs, where eight, 10 or 12 of us would sleep in one tent on a floor covered with a thick layer of spruce boughs. We were shoulder to shoulder, like sardines in a can, but at least we were warmer and if we had a wood stove, the person with the thinnest sleeping bag would keep the fire stoked with wood. Spruce boughs make a good carpet for the floor or mattress for your bed, and they smell really good.
Another trick in the bush was to heat up some rocks in the fire or on the stove and put them into the beds for a little heat or to treat sore backs and muscles. Heat not only makes you feel better, but it can also help to heal and relax you. Something to remember if you ever get stranded in the wilds in winter.
I remember reading a story about some homesteaders in the winter. This was before electric irons had been invented. The mother had some irons made of cast iron which she heated on the stove, and one went into each of the kids’ beds to give them a little warmth on a cold night. Before central heating and proper furnaces came along, people had metal pans on long handles, which they filled with embers and ashes. The pans had lids on them with holes to let the smoke out and air in, to keep things glowing. I am sure a number of beds and blankets were lit on fire with these.
People also used clay pots filled with hot water and eventually, someone invented the hot water bottle. Originally, they were an actual glass bottle and then rubber was discovered — far less likely to break. I used to have a hot water bottle with my first aid kit, just in case I needed it. In town, particularly as I have gotten older, I really like my electric heating pad. It certainly helps make a bed much comfier and cozier on a cold winter’s night when the cold is penetrating everything it touches.
A comfy, cozy bed certainly helps one get a better night’s sleep and as you can see, for generations, people have been coming up with ways to make their beds warmer and more comfortable. It should be possible to get everyone a good cozy bed.
However, ensuring everyone a peaceful sleep depends on your neighbourhood being peaceful. That’s another good goal to strive for.