Book Club reading

Wednesday
The morning was quite sunny, but unfortunately, not long after I was back from my dentist appointment - 6 month check-up - the clouds had moved in followed by rain, so we did our exercise in the afternoon at the gym. It was the first time I had been to the gym in months - preferring outdoor exercise or swimming - but I do need to get back to it, as I know it does me good. Roger has always been much more regular at the gym than me. So, it’s another indoor blip today, the books for the next three months of Book Club. The top one is the one I’m currently reading - The Childrens Blizzard, based on a true occurrence in the Plains states on January 12 1888. The morning of January 12 was unusually mild, following a punishing cold spell. It was warm enough for the homesteaders of the Dakota Territory to venture out again, and their children return to their one-room schoolhouses without their extra heavy coats, leaving them unprepared when disaster struck. At the hour when most prairie schools were letting out for the day, a terrifying fast moving blizzard blew in without warning. School teachers, some as young as sixteen were suddenly faced with life and death decisions: Keep the children inside, but risk freezing to death when the fuel ran out, or send them home, praying they wouldn’t get lost in the extremely low visibility.
Whilst the book is fictionalized , it was based on actual accounts. 235 fatalities were recorded, but it is believed it could have been significantly higher.