As you might well imagine, meal time at our house was run a little different than it probably was at yours. There are a lot of things that were logistically like feeding an army. Mom was in charge of getting it done, no matter how unwilling the troops were. We each had some part to do, and we rotated our chores weekly. Some of us set the table, some cleared the table, one washed, one dried and another put them all away. There was garbage detail and dog feeding chores. Some how, we seemed to disagree on who's week it was to do what.
Our Dad usually got home around 6 o'clock and supper was set for about 10 mins. after he came through the door. When I was younger, he drove to Minneapolis to work in a big Pontiac dealership, but later, he owned his own service station. Either way, it worked out to him getting home about 6, being tired, either from fighting traffic all the way home, or running the station all day.
When the car hit the driveway, things started in motion. Some of the kids would run out to carry his lunchbox in, hoping to find a leftover stale bologna sandwich, which we savored for some reason. Some scurried to finish a chore Mom had given us that had became urgent now where it had no been hurry before. If one of us was sitting in Dad's chair in the living room, it was vacated. If you had to use the bathroom, you went to the upstairs one, so as to not be in the way so Dad could wash up for supper. It was a sort of ballet that helped keep things going smoothly.
Seating all of us also took a plan. We ate in two separate rooms. We didn't have a dining room. We had a table in our kitchen and in our playroom. The first table I remember, Dad had built. It was a 4' x 8'sheet of 3/4" plywood, the top was covered with vinyl tiles and it had a nice chrome trim all around the edges. The table in the playroom was an antique library table, round with neat carved feet. It expanded with leaves if you needed it bigger.
The food was passed around the kitchen table, while one of the kids eating in the playroom would wait to take the bowls and platters to the other room and then return it to the kitchen table. We usually had a big bowl of potatoes to pass around, a vegetable, something usually fresh from the garden or canned from last years garden, and meat. Bread was also abundant. Mom baked 5 loaves every other day. I never knew what stale bread was growing up!
Supper time was not a boisterous loud affair as one might imagine with such a large group. Dad liked to eat in quiet, and we pretty much did that at the kitchen table. Those eating in the playroom had a little more freedom to talk, but, still did not get too loud. I guess it would have been chaos if all of us had tried talking at the same time.
Being the oldest, or orneriest, I was seated at the right hand of Dad, which meant, IF there was any thing left and Mom or Dad didn't want it, I had first dibs on it. That might explain why I was usually heavier than most of my brothers and sisters.
We had a tradition for our Sunday evening meal. We almost always had hot dogs, potato chips or potato salad, and jello with fruit cocktail in it for dessert. This made it quick and easy, which allowed us to get done in time to watch " The Wonderful World of Disney".
If you have some good memories from your meal time growing up, why don't you share them in the comment section below. Thanks!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Fishing Follies
My Dad loved to go fishing. It was great to spend time with him fishing, but, usually, it was better when we were actually catching fish, which we did most of the time.
If the fish weren't biting, it wasn't so much fun. He got impatient sometimes, well, a lot of times. We knew then to be sure we didn't splash too much or make any loud noises, as we might get yelled at for the fish not biting. He seriously liked to catch fish. It did seem like the mosquitoes bit harder when the fish weren't.
We lived in the Land of 10000 Lakes, but, usually we only went to a couple different ones. Beebe Lake was the closest good fishing lake, so we went there a lot. We fly-fished, wearing our old tennis shoes and wading into the shallows. Once in awhile, we would catch ourselves in the back or the hat, or worse yet, our head! We learned not to stand too close to each other in a big hurry! We did catch a lot of Sunfish and Crappies from that lake. I even got a nice bass once!
As you may have heard, Minnesota has a bit of a winter, and we did get to walk on the lakes. Ice fishing was a unique way to spend your time. I did get to go to Lake Mille Lacs with Dad at least once, but, maybe twice, if I recall.
That lake is exactly like what you may have seen if you watched the movie, " Grumpy Old Men". Some weekends over 4000 people can be on that lake fishing. The landscape is dotted with fish shanty's of all shapes and sizes. Sometimes there are street signs posted!
We actually spent the night sleeping on the lake, with the car parked outside. As the lake is rather large, there are pressure ridges of ice that will crack and pop as the wind blows, making you think that if you looked out the window, the car might be gone.
In the morning, the light would actually come in from the ice before it came through the window, being transmitted across the lake! It wasn't hard keeping the fish fresh, tossing them on the ice until we were ready to go.
As we got older, Mom was able to entrust the older kids to watch the younger ones, and Dad took Mom on some fishing trips with him. Of course, on her first trip out, she nabbed a larger Walleye than Dad had ever caught!
Well, maybe some of my other siblings can tell you about some of the other fishing adventures sometime, but, for now, I hope Dad is catching some big ones in Heaven. Later, Pat
If the fish weren't biting, it wasn't so much fun. He got impatient sometimes, well, a lot of times. We knew then to be sure we didn't splash too much or make any loud noises, as we might get yelled at for the fish not biting. He seriously liked to catch fish. It did seem like the mosquitoes bit harder when the fish weren't.
We lived in the Land of 10000 Lakes, but, usually we only went to a couple different ones. Beebe Lake was the closest good fishing lake, so we went there a lot. We fly-fished, wearing our old tennis shoes and wading into the shallows. Once in awhile, we would catch ourselves in the back or the hat, or worse yet, our head! We learned not to stand too close to each other in a big hurry! We did catch a lot of Sunfish and Crappies from that lake. I even got a nice bass once!
As you may have heard, Minnesota has a bit of a winter, and we did get to walk on the lakes. Ice fishing was a unique way to spend your time. I did get to go to Lake Mille Lacs with Dad at least once, but, maybe twice, if I recall.
That lake is exactly like what you may have seen if you watched the movie, " Grumpy Old Men". Some weekends over 4000 people can be on that lake fishing. The landscape is dotted with fish shanty's of all shapes and sizes. Sometimes there are street signs posted!
We actually spent the night sleeping on the lake, with the car parked outside. As the lake is rather large, there are pressure ridges of ice that will crack and pop as the wind blows, making you think that if you looked out the window, the car might be gone.
In the morning, the light would actually come in from the ice before it came through the window, being transmitted across the lake! It wasn't hard keeping the fish fresh, tossing them on the ice until we were ready to go.
As we got older, Mom was able to entrust the older kids to watch the younger ones, and Dad took Mom on some fishing trips with him. Of course, on her first trip out, she nabbed a larger Walleye than Dad had ever caught!
Well, maybe some of my other siblings can tell you about some of the other fishing adventures sometime, but, for now, I hope Dad is catching some big ones in Heaven. Later, Pat
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