Thankful Thursday - Refrigeration

This week, I'm thankful for all things related to refrigeration.  Things like my refrigerator, freezer, and most of all air conditioning.

Since I was born in the very early fifties and am a life-long Florida gal, I remember a whole different world than what we enjoy today. When I got married, in the late 1960's,  I had a 1950's refrigerator which required defrosting the freezer. It looked a lot like this:

1950's refrigerator. (source Bing.com)

This week, I was thinking about this fine old antique and the defrosting process.  I'd put pots of hot water inside the freezer and wait for the ice to drop.  It was a monthly chore since the ice built up pretty quickly.  I was beyond excited when we purchased a new, side-by-side refrigerator that had a frost-free freezer.  Oh, happy day!  Thank you, Father, for my wonderful, frost-free frig.

And air conditioning, oh how I love thee.  I remember growing up without it.  We slept with our (screened) windows open at night and had a big window fan that pulled the air through the house.  Believe it or not, it was cool.  But in the daytime, not so much.  All of the houses in our neighborhood had front porches, and people sat on them to stay cooler. My parents got a window air conditioner in the late 1960's, and I was spoiled forever.

 

 When I got married and left home, we didn't have an air conditioner.  We did have a big attic fan, though, and it kept the house cool in the daytime as well as night.  The house also had awnings that really helped keep the temperature bearable, too.  But I remember getting our first window air conditioner.  I was happy, happy, happy!  Thank you, Father, for air-conditioning, especially central air.

Not all cars had air conditioners back then either.  My first car, in 1967,  was a pretty little Chevy II, and it did not   I can remember driving that car with sweat rolling down my legs like a river.  And I'd get so irritated that I had to keep the windows down and my hair would blow around.  Ahhh....those were the days of Aqua Net hair spray, but even that couldn't hold hair blowing in the car wind.  The cars had little triangle windows that you could use to direct the wind toward you.  That, too, messed with the hairdo.  So, thank you, Father, for car air conditioning.

I went through elementary, junior and high school without air conditioning.  The building had huge windows along the walls to let the air in, but that air was hot, so we were sweaty, believe me.  Churches were the same.  At least the churches had those nifty cardboard fans.

All of this got me thinking about another thing I'm thankful for . . . disposable diapers and electric dryers.  But that's a post for another day.  :)

I think it's good to reflect on the things we take for granted these days and be thankful for them.  We are blessed to live in this day and age, don't you think?

Thankful Thursday is my day to focus on and be thankful for all the good things in my life.  

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