Bug attack ... click on pic to see larger size
The pneumonia is over with as far as I can tell, but I think I am catching a head cold. Yesterday was the best day I've had in many weeks and the RA wasn't bad at all.
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Even though we were poor when I was a young kid, we were by no means destitute. We always had shoes and just enough clothes to get by, and there was plentiful food; but very seldom were non-essential items of any kind—groceries included—purchased. We didn't go to the fridge and get a soda pop or a dish of ice cream; those were luxuries and seldom bought. Besides, we didn't have a refrigerator until the late 1940's, but we did have an ice box. Early of the morning and once each week, a flatbed delivery truck would come out from Harmon Ice and Coal Co.* in Johnson City, and the driver would use a huge (to me) set of ice tongs to retrieve a large block of ice from under a tarpaulin, carry it into the house, raise the top of the ice box and set it inside. The ice would slowly melt and and the water would drip down the insides of the double-wall unit and cool the perishables, finally collecting in a pan beneath. Except in super hot weather, the block would last a full week. There was electricity in the house since 1947, but a used refrigerator wasn't bought until about 1949, due to lack of funds.
Actually we did have treats from time to time. Sometimes my uncles Roy and Fred would sell some blood root, ginseng and other roots, and we would walk the half-mile to the local store and get a soda or a cup of ice cream. Usually once or twice each summer we had fresh lemonade, and one year we had pink lemonade which I thought was simply amazing that they could get pink juice out of a yellow lemon (I used to be easily amazed). At least once a week, mom (grandmother) would bake pies or a a large layer cake, all made from scratch, and in winter she would bake oatmeal cookies. The best part; there was always home canned fruit to be eaten, along with various jellies, apple butter, and jams mom would make. In season, there were plenty of blackberries, raspberries, cherries, huckleberries, grapes, apples, peaches, and gooseberries; mom made a killer gooseberry pie. She also raised small watermelons, and some pretty good cantaloupes.
Being a spoiled brat only child, those early years were easy for me. Most of my entire life has been spent daydreaming, and it all started at mom's house.
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*It is a bit ironic, but one of Carolyn's accounts is Harmon Ice and Cold Storage; it is the same place and the same family operation, but the name has slightly changed to reflect the times.
The pneumonia is over with as far as I can tell, but I think I am catching a head cold. Yesterday was the best day I've had in many weeks and the RA wasn't bad at all.
----
Even though we were poor when I was a young kid, we were by no means destitute. We always had shoes and just enough clothes to get by, and there was plentiful food; but very seldom were non-essential items of any kind—groceries included—purchased. We didn't go to the fridge and get a soda pop or a dish of ice cream; those were luxuries and seldom bought. Besides, we didn't have a refrigerator until the late 1940's, but we did have an ice box. Early of the morning and once each week, a flatbed delivery truck would come out from Harmon Ice and Coal Co.* in Johnson City, and the driver would use a huge (to me) set of ice tongs to retrieve a large block of ice from under a tarpaulin, carry it into the house, raise the top of the ice box and set it inside. The ice would slowly melt and and the water would drip down the insides of the double-wall unit and cool the perishables, finally collecting in a pan beneath. Except in super hot weather, the block would last a full week. There was electricity in the house since 1947, but a used refrigerator wasn't bought until about 1949, due to lack of funds.
Actually we did have treats from time to time. Sometimes my uncles Roy and Fred would sell some blood root, ginseng and other roots, and we would walk the half-mile to the local store and get a soda or a cup of ice cream. Usually once or twice each summer we had fresh lemonade, and one year we had pink lemonade which I thought was simply amazing that they could get pink juice out of a yellow lemon (I used to be easily amazed). At least once a week, mom (grandmother) would bake pies or a a large layer cake, all made from scratch, and in winter she would bake oatmeal cookies. The best part; there was always home canned fruit to be eaten, along with various jellies, apple butter, and jams mom would make. In season, there were plenty of blackberries, raspberries, cherries, huckleberries, grapes, apples, peaches, and gooseberries; mom made a killer gooseberry pie. She also raised small watermelons, and some pretty good cantaloupes.
Being a spoiled brat only child, those early years were easy for me. Most of my entire life has been spent daydreaming, and it all started at mom's house.
----
*It is a bit ironic, but one of Carolyn's accounts is Harmon Ice and Cold Storage; it is the same place and the same family operation, but the name has slightly changed to reflect the times.
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2 comments:
My childchood; years 60. and 70. of XX century. It was communism in my country.
My grandfather was always repeating 'it's soviet system, full of hypocrisy'. I know that he stopped his political activity in 1947. In the evenings he was listening to Radio Free Europe and he treated church as his best shelter. Some his words and some problems I simply didn’t understand as a child. They were too difficult for me. But I loved my grandfather so much.
There were products in shops, but not all. I remember that lemons were a kind of luxury. It's funny, I know.
Your memories are great and very inspiring, Ken. :-))
Living under communism must have been very difficult for your grandfather, and he was correct about the hypocrisy of the "classless" society. The western nations should never have allowed the Soviets to take control of Eastern Europe, but they knew it would mean a long war with Russia, and they were tired of war.
Thanks, Jola. :-)))
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