“He wondered why the pelican was the symbol of charity, except it was that it wanted a good deal of charity to admire a pelican.”
Today is downright cold. I raced to get the paper and yesterday’s mail. My plan is to go to the dump today though I’ll have to bundle up as the dump is cold and windy in winter. I always think it must be like the Russian steppes.
When I was a kid, my brother’s job was to empty the kitchen basket. He always complained because I didn’t have a chore. My father put the full barrels on the sidewalk and brought the empties in when he got home from work. Trash day was once a week.
My parents grocery shopped Friday evenings or Saturday mornings. My mother didn’t drive so she had to wait for my father to take her. I remember a full trunk filled with paper bags. We all helped empty it. After the shopping, we had cookies and crackers in the cabinet, but they went fast. My mother used to hide her favorite cookies. I remember she liked pecan sandies. We got Oreo’s but nobody complained. If you twisted the Oreos, you got two cookies.
Last night I had a huge cup of cocoa. I topped it with Marshmallow Fluff. I heated the milk first so the cocoa power would easily dissolve. When I was a kid, cocoa was my morning drink. My mother used to put some of the powder in the cup with milk, stir it then add hot water to fill the cup. She bought the Nestle’s Hot Cocoa Mix Bank. I remember the label was red and what looked like bank fronts were on it. I had one of those Nestle banks for the longest time, but then it finally gave up the ghost, got rusty on the top and the cardboard body gave out. I never had much money it anyway.
When I was in elementary school, one of us went up and down the rows once a week collecting money to adopt unbaptized Pagan babies. The Pagan babies lived in Africa. Every grade competed to be the top fund raiser, to save more Pagan babies than the other grades. I never questioned it. I wanted my grade to win. For Christmas one year, my sister gave me a small plastic collection box with a smiling black girl’s face on the top. She has red lips and dimples. Her name is Verite. It says so on the box. There is a coin slot. Inside the box is a piece of cardboard which says, ” The Sudaneer’s Pledge, A Nickel A Night for Africa’s Light. The Sudaneer’s Devoted to the task of getting the gospel to THE CHAD REPUBLIC.” There is also a small map of Africa with Chad highlighted. I don’t know where our Pagan babies were from except we knew it was Africa, a continent teeming with Pagan babies. Maybe it was even Ghana.
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January 8, 2021 at 1:26 pm
It has been snowing all day here and with the wind blowing it was quite nasty to be outside unless we were in the forest and out at the island in the bog.
We didn’t have collections like that to save the pagans 🙂 but we did sell something called First of May flowers. Small pins in form of flowers and the money went to less fortunate children in this country. They still sell those pins and I think it’s a tradition since over a hundred years now. I sold them once and never again, kids all over sell them so it’s hard to get rid of them 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
January 8, 2021 at 1:50 pm
Christer,
If we had a wind, the cold would be intense. It is sunny but will stay in the 30’s all day.
We only gave money in school for those babies. Here we do have Poppies for Sale on Veteran’s Day, and the money is all for veterans. This sale started after WWI. No one collects any more for Pagan babies.
January 8, 2021 at 2:45 pm
Hi Kat,
Today has been cool and cloudy. The sun is trying to break through the clouds. The high might get to 50°. Saturday night and Sunday they are forecasting cold rain with a winter mix of snow and sleet. Probably just a light dusting without accumulation because the ground will be too warm.
When I was a kid going to Hebrew school to study for my Bar Mitzvah, we had charity boxes to collect money for planting trees in Israel and buying Israel Bonds. Jews don’t try to convert or save souls anywhere. We believe that there are many paths to the deity and you don’t have to be Jewish. We may be “The Chosen People”, but we have asked God many times in our history to please, choose somebody else for a change. 🙂
On cold nights I love a big mug of Coco with whipped cream or marshmallows. It warms the body and soothe’s the soul. When I was a young kid my mother made hot chocolate for us to drink with breakfast. I think she used the Nestle’s Quick brand. I don’t remember the Nestle’s hot chocolat bank boxes.
Here’s a website to,make you feel optimistic. 🙂
https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/to?p0=263&iso=20210120T12&msg=Time%20left%20until%20Trump%20leaves%20office
January 8, 2021 at 7:23 pm
Hi Bob,
I put off my dump run because it was so cold all day. The sun was out but did nothing to make the day any warmer. I saw a storm is on its way to you. The weather said snow for Texas, but I hope it is more of a mix as long as the temperature is not below freezing.
School was the only place which adopted Pagan babies. The only fundraiser for my school was the Christmas fair the Mothers’ Club ran. I have no idea what happened to all those babies we adopted.
We used Nesquik in our milk. We used the hot cocoa mix all winter. Tea was also on the table in the morning, but I haven’t ever been a tea fan. The cocoa I use now is fair trade and the most chocolatey cocoa I’ve ever had. I might have added marshmallows but I don’t have any.
I’m going to make one of this cocoa bombs you see on YouTube. I bought a mold. I do have cocoa, but I do need small marshmallows.
Hooray!! The clock winds down on this horrific man and his presidency.