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Bill,
Thanks for sharing. Yes, read the book and saw the movie.
"Write if you get work" usually had the underlining meaning to be sure and let me know if there is work out there for me, too.
"Brother, can you spare a dime?" was another one from that era.
While it probably didn't feel like it at the time, you
were pretty fortunate to be tied to that farm and having
ready access to such food. Keeping food on the table and a roof over your head was your dad's priority back then.
And yes, I agree with you that the people of today would have a much worse time of it because so few of them have any experience with living off the land, or for that matter even knowing the basics of cooking from scratch. It sounds like your mom was like mine, having the knack of taking so little and whipping it up into something tasty. And like I said, the lessons learned from that dreaded period of time
were never forgotten and worked their way into my early childhood. I remember, waking up on the weekend to the wonderful aroma of breakfast cooking in the kitchen, and I knew immediately from the smell that dad was at the helm
putting together his famous "hash", which was basically leftovers out of the refrigerator. Whatever was in there
was fed through the cast iron grinder clamped to the kitchen table and it was all added to a frying pan that had
already cooked up some bacon pieces with some pork and beans added along with either some brown sugar or molasses. He would never allow any food to go to waste and yet it was amazing how it always smelled and tasted so good.
My dad passed away in 1974 and I always wished I had asked him what basic ingredients he usually put into that hash. Ocassionally, I try my hand at recreating it but always with no success.
Other things heard around my house..
"Quit wasting the water."
"Quit wasting the electricity, turn off the lights when
you leave the room"
And a favorite that always made me laugh when I was
driving the car and we were waiting for mom to come out
of a store. "Turn the car off...don't leave it idling
like that. Can't you hear the quarters hitting the pavement!!"
As you can see from my name, we're of Scottish descent, a people known for being thrifty. Living through the Depression caused by dad to elevate that trait to new heights, even for Scots.
And how has all that influence affected me today?
Well, my debts are paid off, with the only exception being
the house. I am probably the worst pack-rat there is, finding it almost impossible to throw anything out, that still has some life left in it. And, oh yes, the car still gets turned off, while I'm waiting for someone.
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