Cold day... with a warning that a blizzard is coming.. tomorrow (Friday), Saturday, and maybe Sunday. A couple of feet of snow. We'll see... sometimes these storms pass us by.
I had to do some shopping at the Giant Supermarket... and everybody who lives in Westminster must have been there buying bread, milk and toilet paper. This is a Baltimore custom. There were only 3 gallons of milk left when I picked up mine.
Speaking of Milk
There is a lot of agitation these days by people who want to be able to buy unpasteurized milk. Here in Maryland, one has to drive to Pennsylvania to get some. I've had some from time to time.. and I find it to be one of the most delicious drinks I have ever had.
It's legal, of course, to drink it... if you can get it, and want to take a chance with potential illness. Right now, it is against the law to move unpasteurized milk across state lines.
Peddling Milk
As I've mentioned before, I spent my sixth grade by getting up every morning at 4 am, helping load the milk delivery truck, and then racing to deliver the milk in bottles to everybody's back porches.
I was the solution to a problem that the milk company had: they had retired the old nag that used to pull a truck filled with milk. That old horse knew every customer's location... So, they decided to AUTOmate. They bought a truck built just for milk delivery. There was a seat for the driver and he definitely needed a helper..... the helper would be allowed to sit on unsecured milk crates.
Somebody suggested that I needed a job to help with household expenses.... It was certainly an interesting job... with some problems:
I froze on cold mornings
The driver farted all the time
The driver spent coffee breaks every hour or so... with his sisters (or so he said.)
I fell asleep a lot in class.. in fact, I can't remember anything about my sixth grade classes.
I don't think I made much money... all of it went to my Grandparents anyway
But there were some good things too:
I often was able to see the Aurora Borealis at 4 am
I kept in great shape
I was able to provide lots of milk to my family
When I collected milk payments from older lady customers, they would usually offer me tea and cookies (and, of course, other things... but remember I was only 11 years old.. so get those naughty thoughts out of your head.)
Milk Question
When I peddled milk, I was not allowed to touch certain milk bottles that were kept in a special case on the truck. I asked the driver about it, and he said that it was "special" milk.. and very expensive.. and "keep your goddamn hands off of it!" Was this unpasteurized? Drug infused? Kosher (is there such a thing?) Maybe the milk in the bottles was diluted by water, gin, vodka? I never found out.
My Best Christmas in January Gift!
Yesterday, out mail lady struggled up to our porch and handed me a very heavy package. I could not imagine what it was... a weight to be added to my barbells? The Encyclopedia Britannica? Rocks for my garden?......NO... none of those things... I couldn't wait to open the very tightly wrapped package.
But when I did get it open, my heart leaped... it was something I had heard about but never thought I would own..... it was a two volume pictorial history of my old home town, New Bedford, Massachusetts!! I think that this is the best gift I have gotten in many many years.
The books are from my beloved cousins, Allen and Diana Vaughan, and they could not have pleased my more!!
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