 Happy 4th of JULY |
Here it is watermelon and fireworks time again. I have now seen over 70 of these days and cannot remember a time when it was such a sad time. Who is celebrating and what are they celebrating? Fireworks have been gutted so mostly ( of course for our own safety) all you can buy now are the sparklers and the watermelons are seedless so ill mannered people won't think about spitting those sticky seeds at one another.. what a gross addiction. Seems to me like it was rather funny in years past to see Uncle Dudley with a watermelon seed stuck to his forehead. In past times family would gather and play horseshoes, roast hot dogs and hamburgers while allowing the potato salad to sit on the table with a clean towel over it to keep the flys off and deviled eggs were eaten whole by some of the boys trying to impress everyone with their cleverness and ability to just be a boy. In our family there was always several pies usually fresh peach, blueberry or strawberry to go along with ice cream that was made right there on the spot in a big old wooden hand turned Ice cream churn. How good was that as it was spooned out of that container? There was always a prayer or blessing at the start of the day remembering those that had passed away or were not able to be there in person. After that time of fidgeting silence the kids were free to be kids and do all the things that are so dangerous now. They played ball, had sack races and played tug of war always resulting in some sort of injury to a knee or elbow. Thank goodness the government has stepped into our private lives and are now protecting us from unnecessary injury. We lived close to the river or creek and always had our 4th celebration on the shore, We would take our wash tubs and chicken necks and crab nets and fill those tubs up with fat blue crabs, by noon the men had hauled and set up the tables so the women could start setting out the goodies.. the tubs would be set over a fire and those snappy crabs would be cooked till a bright red and ready to be eaten. Corn bread, biscuits, potato salad, deviled eggs, pies, cakes, hot dogs hamburgers, everyone brought something even Aunt Elsie's sour pickles which never got eaten but always quickly.. I used to wonder what they tasted like but never got a chance to snag one as they were always gone when I finally came on the empty jar. My Pop used to just laugh and tell me to count my lucky stars I didn't get one. After getting married I asked Aunt Elsie how she made her famous pickles so I could make some which seemed to really make her feel good.. the secret was ALUM lots of it so those pickles were so crunchy you could hardly bite into them, the alum would pucker up your mouth so you were incapable of talking for some time I am told too. Actually I never made any of them after talking to my Grandmother about them. They were the joke of the family and I was so dense I never realized it and neither did Elsie. Those days of total enjoyment in being a American and free to play, fight and reproduce with out interference from government and liberals who thought they know what is best for us all and have made it a life work to keep us safe no matter how dangerous it is to us. Back then who even gave a thought of what was our beef made out of or what was in our hot dogs or how much sun we should get or if diving off the bridge was OK. Now we have rules for everything and none of them seem to allow us to be free to have fun and be what we would like to be at least one day of the year. None of our family was rich but we didn't know it, we had plenty of food, love and a warm home, what more could you ask for? Somehow I just cannot work up a rant today. It is such a sad time for me to think back of all of the joy, fun and hard work I have done in my life, all of the mistakes I made and learned from, all of the places I have been and all of the old people I have met that knew who they were and what they wanted with no thought about who it would insult or offend. The young people today will never have a taste of that type of freedom, pride and self esteem that being a free American Citizen should bring. We are not free Americans any longer. We are dominated and docile via the Media and medications. What a fruitless life to have to look back on when these people reach my age if they ever will. I was reading today about the cattle industry and my Lord how things have changed. We had beef in the pasture but never ever thought about feeding them anything other than some corn, hay and good grass, now with all of the corporate cattle machines it is really a game of chance to buy a pound of beef or pork or even chicken at the stores today. Have you noticed how huge the chicken breasts are now? We raised our chickens, which tasted like chicken, on what they found in the pasture and some cracked corn and their breasts were nice and plump but never had to be cut into three pieces to fry. Think about it there has to be a reason. Our free range chickens ate bugs and anything that moved which kept them on the move building lean muscle, the chickens sold today never see the sun, never hit the ground and have the top of their beak cut off to keep them from becoming a cannibal. Such a pity both for the bird and for us the consumer. I grow my own chickens now, what a difference. I think we all need to just sit down and stop and be ourselves again. I know it is against the laws, it is not what we are told we are supposed to do but that is the only answer.. Grow your own garden, raise your own chickens in the back yard, raise a beef on shares and know what you are eating, stop patronizing the stores meat counters. It wouldn't take long for them to feel the pinch. All of those corporate farms should be illegal. They are inhumane and dangerous to the public health. If they didn't have the sales they could not exist. Many countries will not allow our meat products to be imported to their country from the US. If third world nations refuse to feed their citizens our products does that not say something about the products we are eating? |
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
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