One More First
Today is Tuesday and my oh my have the temperatures changed. It had been a long time since we have had a number in the 60s.
I did spend some time out in the gardens taking care of few stray weeds. The rain that moved through only amounted to .02″. For the thunder that boomed I thought we would have had a downpour.
This afternoon Grammie, at age 76, had her first Freezer Pop. We had bought a bag for the picnic on Sunday and of course leftovers can’t go to waste. The Freezer Pop took me back to when my parents farmed near Winthrop, Mn. The Watkins man had our farm on his route. The Watkins Nectar was the best. It didn’t take but a small amount of the favored liquid to make a two quart pitcher of wonderful delight. It was the summer 1949 when Michael was born that Fred, the Watkins man made his rounds. Fred was giving away free forms with the purchase of a bottle of nectar with which to make frozen treats. The forms came with sticks that needed to be placed into the slit of the form before it went into the freezer with the liquid nectar.
Elvera, Calvin and myself would sit on the lip of the house foundation and think we had gone to heaven when the frozen treats were ready to enjoy. Those plastic forms were around for many a lick to be enjoyed. I can tell you that same set of wooden sticks toughed it out for many more Watkins Nectar jugs. No one, and I mean no one, was allowed to abuse the sticks by trying to get the last of the flavor out of them when the treat was gone. Today, sitting in the patio porch enjoying a Watermelon Freezer Pop, I could almost hear giggles as if 1949 wasn’t more than a heartbeat from the past.
Yup . . . lots of water over the dam. I am so thankful that the memories that I hold near and dear are always ready for a rerun. Sweet.