Posted by rayww on November 30, 2008, at 12:33:48
In reply to Re: too grateful, posted by Dinah on November 30, 2008, at 10:19:45
We used to chop big blocks of ice out of the river, then carry them up the hill on a wagon pulled by a team of horses. We put the ice in our ice house, which was a little shed with piles of saw dust on the floor. When buried in saw dust the ice would remain frozen till the next year. I can remember making home made ice cream in the middle of summer from that ice. We had a root cellar that kept most other things refrigerated, but a small ice box inside the house helped. Our drinking water was kept in a galvanized bucket on the wash stand, complete with the dipper for drinking. It was pumped from the cistern. We filled the cistern with a horse drawn water wagon, straight from the river. It was never really cold, and always had a tinny taste, that I can still taste when I think about it.
I asked my mother this summer what her secret was for making delicious dill pickles. She didn't know. She just used the water......so I tried natural spring water and it worked.
I remember when grandma got her first electric clothes drier. I buried my face in the warm soft towels.
It is no wonder my childhood is so indelibly etched. Those are memories I could never forget.
Less pleasant memories are getting stuck in the mud on my way out to the barn or the pig pen, standing there hollering till my daddy rescued me.
But the memory of fresh chicken cooked in a coal stove are the best. But carrying out the ashes, not so good....hauling dirty old coal...washing the walls and ceilings every year after winter, dark with coal dust, and the curtains.
But the houses were small and the curtains few.
It seemed like back then we just lived to live. There was no other way. It was rich and fulfilling, no empty space anywhere.
I've watched prosperity happen, along with some of you, for the past 50 years. Is it real if we depend on someone else for our sustenance? The answer has to be "no" its not real, it's a gift, but we'll gladly swing along with it as long as we can, and be grateful.
poster:rayww
thread:865801
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20081115/msgs/865909.html