75 degrees a few days ago and now winter is blasting across the
nation. 30 degrees today. UGH! Possibly accumulating snow on Saturday.
As I stood in the kitchen watching my tall
mug of black cherry tea heat up, I gazed into a
window from my past.
There was no school bus transportation. Everyone walked to school. I walked eight blocks. Females were not allowed to wear jeans or slacks, not even on the most brutally cold snowy days... and NO, there was no such thing as "snow days" back when I was a freshman in 1963. Our fingers were frozen stiff and our legs from the knees down were red and chapped when we arrived at school.
Skirt lengths were at the knee,
but yo-yoed over the next four years. Granny skirts ankle hovered, then
hemlines rose to mid calf, and eventually began a slow thigh-high climb to miniskirts.
Each year, just before school
started, I bought basic white canvas tennis shoes at the dime store for phys ed
days, and I polished them with white "baby shoe" polish to keep them
looking new.
I wore black and white saddle
oxfords, or penny loafers with shiny pennies inserted into the slots.
I loved my "Beatle Boots,"
flat heeled comfy, ankle boots.
In the spring I headed for
Hill Brother's shoe store where their slogan was plastered across the window:
"Two for five, man alive!" I purchased flats in a rainbow of pastels.
At McKinley High, the
highly-waxed cork floors felt like padding beneath my feet as I darted to
my next class. When the public address system crackled with an announcement by
Principal Dr. Mildred Hiller that our room was invited to attend an auditorium
session, the class rejoiced.
Sporting a suit and tie, a male General
Electric representative stood on stage and demonstrated a new-fangled innovative contraption, right off The Jetsons. Large as a dorm fridge, it sat on display on a table.
"Girls, in YOUR lifetime,
in the very near future, you will be able to cook an entire meal in mere
minutes. No more slaving over the range."
The only "range" I
knew was the open prairie in the western song, "Home on the Range." I
had never heard that word used to describe a kitchen stove.
He proceeded to bake a cake
in less than five minutes and frost it with a solid Hershey bar as it melted
across the surface, much to my amazement.
This morning as I watched the microwave heat my tea in a minute and a half, I realized how I take that thing for granted.
Fifteen years after that
G.E demonstration I purchased my first microwave, a large boxy contraption that
cost $300.00. I was ticked off at my then husband for something big.
When I took the "for
emergency only" charge card to Sears and Roebuck, I also purchased a set
of ceramic canisters which cost almost $40, a lot of money in those days. He
was lucky I stopped there!
I mainly use my microwave for
heating. How about you?