Transistors to Ipods

Anyone who knows me knows that I love music. And I have loved getting that music from the radio since I was a kid. The magic radio. The music came to my ears from far, far away. I was enthralled when I heard the Grand Old Opry all the way from Nashville, TN on Saturday night!

My transistor AM radio fit right in my hand. No way was I content to leave it sit somewhere and listen to it. I carried it around and held it to my ear. Waiting for Petula Clark to come on singing Downtown, or Nancy Sinatra belting out Boots. I didn’t know then, and I don’t know now what transistor means. What I do know is that if you dropped your precious and perfect black and white transistor radio on the sidewalk, it didn’t work anymore.

My next radio of my very own was an AM/FM alarm clock radio. It was marvelous. I never had an extensive record or tape collection. I really only wanted the songs from the radio that I could sing along with. Many hours were spent sitting by that radio in my room waiting for the right song to come on so I could push the button on the cassette recorder to get a crappy recording of my favorites. Yes, crappy. Either I missed the beginning of the song, or the tape ran out and I missed the end of the song, or my sister opened the door and started talking in the middle.

When I started driving I decided that the radio in the car was an important accessory. I was able to make this determination because my car had no working radio. Not even AM. If I wanted music, I had to have an 8 track player on the seat beside me - or sing to myself! This was before the days of standard CD players or even cassette players. Heck it was even before the days of FM coming standard.

So, all that said, it comes as no surprise that I LOVE Itunes and my pretty, pink Ipod. I can have all the songs I love. Old ones and new ones. And I don’t have to buy whole albums to do it. Before I got my Ipod, I managed to collect more CDs than I ever had records, 8tracks or cassettes combined. Now, I can take just my favorites from those CDs to listen to as much as I want to! While I may be uninterested in many newfangled gadgets, and I still love the radio, I would not like to give up my Ipod.

I dropped my Ipod once on the cement floor in the garage. I was very scared as I had a flashback to the moment that transistor radio hit the sidewalk and flew to pieces. But, it seems the Ipod is much tougher. It didn’t fly apart and it still played my tunes when I got in the car.

And yes, Petula Clark and Nancy Sinatra are on my Ipod.

Satisfaction in a Jar

The first light frost has come and gone, so I am officially done canning for the season. It was a good year and there are jars and jars and jars lined up in the pantry, and even more packed into boxes waiting for their chance to sit on the pantry shelves. I have survived the long days, the stirring, the heat, and the tired feet once again. What satisfaction to see the rows of jewel toned delicacies filling the pantry shelves. The taste of sunshine in every jar.

I look forward to the canning season each year. When the produce starts coming on I set up the “canning center”. All the equipment necessary get set up on a table and it remains at the ready until the season is over. That way I am ready to get down to business whenever a basket full of goodness from the garden comes through the door. The garden is largely planned and planted according to what is left in the pantry come spring. And it is a disappointment when a crop doesn’t yield enough to put up. But there is always something to process. Carrots, cabbage, beets, pickles, relish, jalapenos, new potatoes, and beans to name a few. And tomatoes . All manner of tomatoes! Salsa, chili sauce, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, whole tomatoes, and tomato juice. Our biggest day this year was 105 jars. Now that’s a lot of steam!

Many people tell me they will NEVER can because they had to help do it when they were kids and they hated. What kid didn’t have chores as a kid that they hated. Most kids undoubtedly prefer playing over helping load the canner. Canning as an adult, because you want to, is much different. And it doesn’t hurt to have an air conditioned kitchen to do it in.

Others tell me they are glad they don’t have to can anymore now that their kids are all grown up. While I totally understand the necessity of canning to feed a family, I still like eating the food I can whether the kids are grown up or not! The food in those jars just tastes better!

Past generations grew and canned their own food to save money and have a variety of foods through the winter. It has been debated whether canning our own food is indeed cheaper nowadays when taking into consideration the cost of seeds, water, canning supplies and energy. I suppose there will come a day when I feel that my canning days must come to an end. In the meantime I am always glad to see young people getting into the process. Many have not grown up in a home where canning was done and they are so excited about learning and doing it on their own.

In a world where we are seeing a need for healthier, safer food we may find that preserving food we grow ourselves is once again a necessity.