Good morning, Vagabonds. Waking up at 5 AM after sleeping for only about 2 hours; walking over to Biscayne Blvd. to catch a 6:20 AM bus that got me to Downtown Miami at 7 AM only to find 40 people ahead of me at IRS and having to wait till 8 AM to go through security and then being interviewed at 9:45 AM really wore me out for the day. Only 2 good things came out of it: I’m getting a big refund and the weather has improved. Maybe today I can go swimming.
PS: On the bus home from IRS, a young man in a wheelchair boarded. What were his arms were deformed (remember the thalidomite babies? – I used to think that they would be annoyed because everyone could tell their age). One of his elbows passed for a large thumb, but you should see how he maneuvered his cellphone and navigated his wheelchair by himself. He was perfectly groomed. I told him how I admired how he managed in life and he smiled. It makes us feel ashamed when we complain about things
All that stuff about ice boxes and refridgerators and such. got stories here. If I don’t do them now, I am sure to forget about them.so……..<<<<<<Early Spring 1949, Silas, Alabama.. About 70 miles north of Mobile, close to the Mississippi border. There is a lot of story,about that Spring in Alabama, But we’re talking aboutvarious cooling ways here. I made a friend there who delivered ice along the border area there. I would go with him sometimes. I was sixteen years old then. I think we were in Mississippi most of the time. No electricity there, The customers were all Blacks. We;d load 300 lb blocks of ice in the back of is truck, and off we’d go. Can’t remember his name, though I remember him. Big and strong. Skinny me would struggle to get a block of ice to the truck. He’d take to pair of ice tong and grab a block at one end in each hand, lift that end up andwalk them out to the truck.The more I write, the more I remember and I could probably stay in Alabama til dawn, slow as I write so……Bye, bye, Alabama. At least for now
Found an old doorless shack shack about a mile upstream from the mouth of Shirttail Creek, and moved in with my cat. Honey. There was an old stove full of holes there. And pieces of old newspaper dated 1934.There was a hole in the wall on the shady side of the shackwiith a box on the outside with a solid bottom and top and heavy 1/4 inch mesh around the side outside. On top was a rusty pan about the size of the top, with shreds of burlap on it. It was a home-made evaporator cooler that whoever had been living there in 1934 had made. When there were things that needed to be kept cold, pour water in the pan and it would sipnon down through the burlap to cool whatwas being kept in there. Oh, I had a tarp to hang in the doorway.
Kings Hill, 1971 Late Fall & Winter. Shot a deer, dressed it, then rubbed black pepper on every inch of it when I hung it out on the porch. The pepper kept the bugs, it there were any, off the meat. It got cold, snowed, stayed cool-to-cold and I had venison for the winter. Fed some to the cats, and tossed bones in the chicken yard for the birds to clean off.>>>>>>There you have three stories about cooling food without needing electricity, except at the ice plant in Alabama’ >>>>>>One of the reasons I could get along so well up in the hills and in my life is my Dortorate in improvisation from Mickey Mouse University. :))))
Morning, Village.Great stories, Slim. I enjoyed reading them. And they reminded me of how smart our ancestors were to be able to improvise various ways to preserve their food and survive long cold winters. Kept the human race alive for thousands and thousands of years.
The reason I call it an ice box is that my parents were products of the days before they had electric refrigerators. My folks always called it an ice box and us kids sort of fell into the habit. I remember my dad even calling the TV a radio!
And Lowe’s called about 4 PM yesterday to tell me that they’re delayed. So the delivery should happen this morning.
I was born in 1971 and remember the refrigerator being called an icebox and I have seen a small icebox in my great-grandparents kitchen that was used for storing kitchen items
Welcome back, Slim. As the others said, I love your stories and could read them all day. I also love the photo you have chosen for your facebook page. Rugged and handsome!
Rita, that’s a novel way to uncork a bottle of wine.
It’s supposed to rain around here today, and snow on Mt. Charleston. It always seems odd to me to see that snow-capped mountain in the middle of the Nevada desert. Of course it doesn’t last much beyond March.
Off to Bible study, so I’ll check in later. We’re going through the book of Proverbs, and it is very interesting/enlightening.
Good day Vagabonds..For some reason I just couldn’t wake up this morning, and this afternoon took my dear old dad to the VA for blood work..Not much else to tell, well, the first refrigerator I can recall was the type that had a dome on top with the compressor in it..Ok, have fun..ttfn
arye uygur about 11 years ago
Good morning, Vagabonds. Waking up at 5 AM after sleeping for only about 2 hours; walking over to Biscayne Blvd. to catch a 6:20 AM bus that got me to Downtown Miami at 7 AM only to find 40 people ahead of me at IRS and having to wait till 8 AM to go through security and then being interviewed at 9:45 AM really wore me out for the day. Only 2 good things came out of it: I’m getting a big refund and the weather has improved. Maybe today I can go swimming.
shirttailslim about 11 years ago
Good morning, Vagabonds
arye uygur about 11 years ago
PS: On the bus home from IRS, a young man in a wheelchair boarded. What were his arms were deformed (remember the thalidomite babies? – I used to think that they would be annoyed because everyone could tell their age). One of his elbows passed for a large thumb, but you should see how he maneuvered his cellphone and navigated his wheelchair by himself. He was perfectly groomed. I told him how I admired how he managed in life and he smiled. It makes us feel ashamed when we complain about things
shirttailslim about 11 years ago
All that stuff about ice boxes and refridgerators and such. got stories here. If I don’t do them now, I am sure to forget about them.so……..<<<<<<Early Spring 1949, Silas, Alabama.. About 70 miles north of Mobile, close to the Mississippi border. There is a lot of story,about that Spring in Alabama, But we’re talking aboutvarious cooling ways here. I made a friend there who delivered ice along the border area there. I would go with him sometimes. I was sixteen years old then. I think we were in Mississippi most of the time. No electricity there, The customers were all Blacks. We;d load 300 lb blocks of ice in the back of is truck, and off we’d go. Can’t remember his name, though I remember him. Big and strong. Skinny me would struggle to get a block of ice to the truck. He’d take to pair of ice tong and grab a block at one end in each hand, lift that end up andwalk them out to the truck.The more I write, the more I remember and I could probably stay in Alabama til dawn, slow as I write so……Bye, bye, Alabama. At least for now
shirttailslim about 11 years ago
Late Fall, 1962 North Fork American River>>>>>>
Found an old doorless shack shack about a mile upstream from the mouth of Shirttail Creek, and moved in with my cat. Honey. There was an old stove full of holes there. And pieces of old newspaper dated 1934.There was a hole in the wall on the shady side of the shackwiith a box on the outside with a solid bottom and top and heavy 1/4 inch mesh around the side outside. On top was a rusty pan about the size of the top, with shreds of burlap on it. It was a home-made evaporator cooler that whoever had been living there in 1934 had made. When there were things that needed to be kept cold, pour water in the pan and it would sipnon down through the burlap to cool whatwas being kept in there. Oh, I had a tarp to hang in the doorway.
shirttailslim about 11 years ago
Kings Hill, 1971 Late Fall & Winter. Shot a deer, dressed it, then rubbed black pepper on every inch of it when I hung it out on the porch. The pepper kept the bugs, it there were any, off the meat. It got cold, snowed, stayed cool-to-cold and I had venison for the winter. Fed some to the cats, and tossed bones in the chicken yard for the birds to clean off.>>>>>>There you have three stories about cooling food without needing electricity, except at the ice plant in Alabama’ >>>>>>One of the reasons I could get along so well up in the hills and in my life is my Dortorate in improvisation from Mickey Mouse University. :))))
davidf42 about 11 years ago
Morning, Village.Great stories, Slim. I enjoyed reading them. And they reminded me of how smart our ancestors were to be able to improvise various ways to preserve their food and survive long cold winters. Kept the human race alive for thousands and thousands of years.
The reason I call it an ice box is that my parents were products of the days before they had electric refrigerators. My folks always called it an ice box and us kids sort of fell into the habit. I remember my dad even calling the TV a radio!
And Lowe’s called about 4 PM yesterday to tell me that they’re delayed. So the delivery should happen this morning.
Teh Premium Member about 11 years ago
I was born in 1971 and remember the refrigerator being called an icebox and I have seen a small icebox in my great-grandparents kitchen that was used for storing kitchen items
MontanaLady about 11 years ago
Good Morning, All,
LOVED your stories, Slim!!!! Thanks for taking the time to enlighten us!
We put out a bottle of white wine to chill one day, forgot about it, and the cork had been pushed out by the frozen wine!
JanLC about 11 years ago
Good morning, Vagabonds.
Welcome back, Slim. As the others said, I love your stories and could read them all day. I also love the photo you have chosen for your facebook page. Rugged and handsome!
Rita, that’s a novel way to uncork a bottle of wine.
It’s supposed to rain around here today, and snow on Mt. Charleston. It always seems odd to me to see that snow-capped mountain in the middle of the Nevada desert. Of course it doesn’t last much beyond March.
Off to Bible study, so I’ll check in later. We’re going through the book of Proverbs, and it is very interesting/enlightening.
arye uygur about 11 years ago
@MONTANA LADY: I always thought that alcohol couldn’t freeze.
SWEETBILL about 11 years ago
GOOD AFTERNOON YA’LL
Welcome back SS- U DA MAN
woodworker318 about 11 years ago
@Arye Uygur: Alcohol can freeze if it is not 100% alcohol. Wine is not pure alcohol, maybe only 12-14% so if it gets cold enough it will freeze.
Dkram about 11 years ago
Good day Vagabonds..For some reason I just couldn’t wake up this morning, and this afternoon took my dear old dad to the VA for blood work..Not much else to tell, well, the first refrigerator I can recall was the type that had a dome on top with the compressor in it..Ok, have fun..ttfn