Coal...

Sitting here on day two (second firing attempt) thinking about how acrid the smell of coal is as it burns. The taste of itmakes my mouth and lungs sore and it seems to permeate my clothes ad skin. I cant imagine how coal fired indystry workers must have coped with what was thier day to day work. I can remember the 70's an 80's as coal fired homes were slowly being replaced with gas central heating. I remember how the air changed even in that short time. I also remember my grandad getting coal delivered an how the merchant threw coal sacks over onto his shoulder with a little flourish each time. But the twist was paramount in heaving the dead wieght into air to body hieght. I also remember a time when he got his winter fuel delived in one go iff the back of a truck. We used to play on the miund with our toy cars and soldiers but invariably lost them. Knees black and cut from the sharp cobbles as big as a brick and they burnt hotter then too. I remember the coal house. As black as ink. You couldnt see the back. Only the orange hint of the boards holding it back. The worst childhood reprimand was " stop that or I will hang you on the back of the coal aaas door with my braces and shut it"! Occasionally with..."and we'll let the bogey man get ya"!