Just a Memory

Recently, Greg and I were reminiscing about how things used to be.

Greg remembers the milk man delivering glass bottles of milk, and an old man and his horse collecting rags. There was even a horse drawn carriage that delivered ice. This was in Chicago (of all places) in the early 60s, so that really surprised me. 

At ten years old, I remember running down to the corner grocery store and buying a pack of cigarettes for my grandfather. No questions asked.

When my family traveled to Mexico, I remember outhouses---and how I HATED them. I imagined all sorts of monsters in the dark. My cousins would scare me with stories of snakes, spiders and scorpions. The laugh's on them now. I'm a veteran of such attacks.

I also remember my grandmother sewing on a peddle powered Singer sewing machine. 

Perhaps my most vivid memory was watching my grandmother dispatch a goat with nothing more than a small knife. There was no sound from the goat. I was very impressed. Then my mother caught me and I was whisked away. She didn't think it was a suitable sight for a child.

In hindsight, I think it spurred me on to learn more about animals, raising them, keeping them healthy, and eventually eating them. It would be many years before we had our first livestock, but that image of my grandmother quietly and efficiently killing that goat has stayed with me all my life. I wanted to be like her.

We didn't have a color tv for years after we married. I still remember the look of disbelief on both our faces the first time we saw The Wizard of Oz in color. We had no idea it was in color!

We didn't replace shoes unless we outgrew them. We had them resoled or repaired. Our cobbler had a shop on a quiet street across from an orphanage. Every so often limousines would show up and men in black suits went into a nearby nondescript house, also near the orphanage. Since it was an Italian neighborhood, we suspected they were in the Mafia. Being kids, we found them more fascinating than scary.

What was scary was our first computer. It worked off a cassette player. I kid you not. It was enough to swear me off computers until they finally developed the floppy disc.

Does anyone remember the old photo booths? You could take four b&w photos for 50 cents, though in the 70s, it went up to a dollar.

Our neighbor would tell us stories about how he would have to go to school riding a mule during the 30s. He even showed us the picture. Other friends told us that visiting a relative 40 miles in the next town required train travel.

When we were very young, a trip to Mexico took several days. Only some of the interstates had been finished during this time. Sometimes we were on a nice smooth road, other times it was dusty gravel. And no air conditioning! 

My dear friend (who had sold us her country house in SE Texas) used to tell me how she and her brother would traipse over rubble and sometimes bodies during WWII in England. 

This story always shocked me because she was as timid as a mouse. But she insisted that that's just the way life was for them. You were grateful you made it through the night, then parents dutifully sent you off to school the next day. 

Somehow that seemed unfair. They probably wished the school had been been reduced to rubble instead. 

"Our war" was Vietnam. Greg had signed the enlistment papers, when he received word that he would not be going. They had closed enlistment. He was upset about it because he really wanted to do his part. He even went back to talk to the recruiting sergeant to no avail. I was quietly relieved.

Two years later, the last soldier returned home.  

What's your most vivid memory?  

***

I'm slowly putting the garden to bed. The only thing growing now are peppers, okra, and watermelon. We had two cantaloupe left, but raccoons feasted on them the other day. That's the picture above.

Those accidental tomato seedlings I started not only sprouted flowers, but now have fruit on them. So much for the conventional wisdom that tomatoes won't fruit in hot weather.

I started two spaghetti squash plants and eggplants. I might have enough time to get another harvest before it cools off. 

I am so ready for cooler weather.  Summer has always been my least favorite season. Too hot and too many bugs.

Next year, more okra plants and less peppers. Freeze dried okra is the surprise favorite. Absolutely delicious! 

Nana, the Wonder Dog Update: She's hanging in there, but she's developing little sores and painful bumps between her toes. It seems I no sooner fix one problem when something else comes up. I'll take her to the vet this week to see what she can make of it. The old girl still has an appetite and can walk well, but is having more trouble getting up. She still wags her tail whenever she sees us. She loves getting all the attention.

 

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