“Life is rather like a tin of sardines – we’re all of us looking for the key.”
Today is cloudy but warm. The rain will be back tomorrow. With all this rain, I’m beginning to feel like a character in Ray Bradbury’s All Summer in a Day, a short story which takes place on Venus where the sun appears for only an hour every seven years.
I remember when I got my first transistor radio. It was a Christmas present. The radio was big and square and made of leather, brown leather, with decorative holes in the front. It had a dial on the side for channel changing. On the other side was the on and off dial. We only got AM radio in those days, but we had so many choices. Up and down the dial were channels playing rock, 50’s rock. I loved that radio.
My bicycle would sometimes slip the chain. I’d have to turn the bike upside down and try to get the chain back on the sprockets. It was frustrating and took time. It was also dirty. My hands got greasy.
When I think back, I am amazed at what I ate when I was a kid. I’ve mentioned the sardines. Now, they gross me out sitting there headless side by side in the oval can. Many times for lunch I had Chef Boy-Ar-Dee spaghetti. I remember the picture of the chef on the can. He had a mustache and wore a puffy white chef’s hat. He sort of looked Italian to me, the closest his spaghetti ever got to Italy. When I was in Ghana, my mother sent me a few boxes of Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee’s pizza kits. I savored those. Wonder bread was always white and soft. It was the only bread we ate. I remember the big red Wonder on the package. I also remember it was Howdy Doody’s favorite bread. It made great toast. Creamed corn does taste good, but you have get by its looks. It used to spread across the plate and contaminate my potatoes. I can’t remember the last time I ate it except in corn bread.
My dance card is empty until Tuesday’s uke practice.
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January 27, 2024 at 4:25 pm
Hi Kat,
Today the sun came out after several days of cloudy gloomy weather. The high is a chilly 52° with a brisk north wind.
I also had a small pocket transistor radio in junior high school. It was about the size of a pack of cigarets, came with a slip on rubbery plastic case, had a nine volt battery, and an earphone as well as a tinny sounding speaker. Of course it was only AM.
We always had a can of sardines in the house which we opened with an attached key. Today canned and very high quality fish is making a comeback. I think all the sardines came from Portugal as do the high priced ones do today. I haven’t eaten a can of sardines in many years.
I never ate the Chef Boy-Ar-Dee, canned spaghetti, but still enjoy the ravioli. It makes for a quick dinner. I never have seen the pizza kits, but in Ghana it would have made a quick substitute for the real stuff. I would bet that today there are pizza places in Ghana in the capital. Pizza is now universal.
Because we came from New York, we knew what good rye bread, Challah, and Italian bread was like. Texans ate that Wonder Bread stuff or the local variety, Mrs. Baird’s Bread. I always joked that it’s a wonder that the stuff is really bread. Mrs. Baird’s is still available but the company is now owned by the Bimbo Baking company in Monterrey Mexico. There’s no discernible difference between Wonder Bread or Mrs. Baird’s bread. If the stuff wasn’t vitamin enriched it would have absolutely no nutritional value. 🙂
January 27, 2024 at 8:50 pm
Hi Bob,
The rain will start during the night tonight. It wouldn’t be the weekend if we didn’t get rain!
I also got a pocket size transistor radio when I was a teen, but I don’t remember the earphones. That first one was when I was still in grammar school. I used to put it in my bike basket and listen while I rode.
I was terrible with that key. It would go off course so the cover stopped rolling. My father loved sardines so I used to buy him and expensive can for his stocking. He loved them with Saltines.
I have never found a pizza place in Ghana, even in Accra, its capital. When I went back, I was surprised by how many ethnic restaurants I found. When I lived there, there was one Chinese restaurant in Accra. When I went back, I found even Thai restaurants. We used to eat at Talal’s, a Lebanese hole in the wall restaurant. There were hardly any still left, but we found Frankie’s, excellent Lebanese food. We also ate at a wonderful Turkish restaurant. I don’t even remember an Italian restaurant. Ghanaians eat a lot of soup, not sauces.
My mother bought that bread for us kids. It wasn’t until we were older that our taste buds got a bit more sophisticated. I loved freshly baked Italian bread from the bakery. Youy could buy it sliced ot unsliced. I am currently into honey wheat bread.