Memories with an Electric Fry Pan

 

This Sunbeam electric fry pan entered our lives in the mid 1950s. We moved from Linn Grove to Alta in 1955.  Its most recent usage was 2020 to make sweet potatoes at our son’s home. It gives some credence to “the best electric appliance made” on the bottom of the pan!

Linda remembers a bread wrapper getting stuck to the bottom early on…and it is still there.

Linda and I remember the fry pan traveling to Seattle with us.  Linda was in fifth grade and her teacher assigned each student to write to AAA and plan a trip.  Linda planned our trip to Seattle. 

Our family of six, Mom, Dad, and the four sisters – ages 14, 11, 9, and 6 travelled in our big Olds 88 in 1961 so Dad could attend the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Synod Convention.

We always stayed in motels with kitchenettes and two beds.  Mom made meals each evening at the motel.  Bacon tomato sandwiches tasted so good. Lunches were sandwiches out of cooler. 

The Olds had deep wheel wells in the backseat.  Mom put a small suitcase there and it provided another space to sit.  Either Mom or I would ride in the front with one of the younger ones.  The big trunk held our luggage, a cooler and an army camp cot and extra bedding. 

I had just gotten my learner’s permit and Dad had me drive the first day for about an hour.  I sat up straight, hands in 10 and 2, on a two-lane road and never passed.  I’m sure Dad never relaxed.  When he told me to pull over, I remember climbing in the back seat and sleeping for at least an hour.

When we arrived in Seattle, we stayed at the City Center Motel within walking distance of the Convention and also a grocery store.  The electric fry pan of course was in use.

Chris was playing on a wall by the motel and fell.  Mom took her to the nearby hospital. 

On the way home we stopped in Wilbur, Washington for church.  During the sermon I remember Mom and Dad exchanging glances.  The service concluded and we were greeted and welcomed.  Mom and Dad shook many hands including the Pastor’s.  When we were all in the car Dad burst out laughing and could hardly tell what had been said in the sermon.  The pastor in describing overcoming a difficult decision used the idiom “to take the bull by his horns and look him straight in the eye”.  However what the pastor said was “take the bull by the tail and look him straight in the eye!”

Somewhere on the trip home Mom even bought a chicken and fried it in the motel.  It tasted so good!

Dad was so proud of the Olds.  The gas purchase and mileage were recorded at every stop and the mpg figured.  When we were at home, I remember Dad at the dining room table figuring the whole trip…adding the total gallons of gas, subtracting beginning mileage from ending mileage and finding the overall mileage.  He was pleased!  I don’t remember the number just his glee.

In 1967 our family moved to Storm Lake and so did the fry pan.  My children remember the fry pan going on picnics…sometimes with fried chicken or chili with hot dogs on the side for chili dogs in the park.

In 2014 it moved to Andy’s home in Decorah.  Now it is used for….and fried sweet potatoes.  Nicholas makes his grandma’s sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving.  He slices the raw sweet potatoes, dusts them with flour and salt and pepper, fries them in butter and then adds brown sugar to caramelize! 

PS  Linda reminded me that the fabulous Olds 88 had no air conditioner and we traveled in summer.  A commonly heard phrase.."she's touching me!".

Chair Story

 

I looked and looked for aluminum frame folding chairs for use at the lake….webbing and lightweight.  Amazingly they are hard to find at the price I wanted to pay and made of steel and were so heavy.

At the end of 2019 I bought 2 and stored them in the garage with tags on.  Along comes the pandemic and Becky and Sharon and I decided we could safely meet in the park with our lunches, sit 6 feet apart and talk!  We even made the TV news one night from afar.  We started with heavy coats and blankets.  And we met once a week and enjoyed lunching and talking, trying out different parks and locations.

The first time I used the chair, the tags were still on and Sharon said I had a Minnie Pearl chair…so of course I left the tag on!

Minnie Pearl Chair

I put a chair in my car and used it once a week for about 2 hours each time for our lunches.  Sadly by early September one of the webbings tore. I was frustrated since I had only used it once a week.

Since I had the tags…I could contact the company.  That brought a couple of exchanges and an online form asking for extensive documentation.  That form said they would reply in 2 weeks.  No reply.  I emailed and quoted their response and I received notice I would receive two chairs in 2 weeks. And so September, October, and November and this is the rest of the story.

Package Arrived 

Box Opened

Received two chairs with phone holder, bottle opener and can holder!

Prairie Views

 

Our Loon Lake prairie has shared much beauty.  The big bluestem is as tall as I.  The little bluestem is also showing its beautiful color. 

grasses

Tiny lavender colored flowers

aster

and bright yellow flowers

display along the lane.  

Tucked in are wild roses sharing their hips. 

rose hips

Along the stream we’ve had a big blue heron that flies off a curve in the water as we go by and (s)he is faster than I so no picture!

About three blocks from our home in Mason City is a strip of native prairie along the Winnebago River.  The association has been working to revive it after bushes and weedy material moved in.  Previously the fire department would do a controlled burn but as housing was built up that wasn’t allowed.  Now mechanical means are used AND in the third strip goats were brought in for the month of August.  It was fun and became a pause for many walkers to check out the seven goats as they munched for a month!

Tis the political season

In early 1988 Mike was up and off to church for Sunday services.   About 7:30 he called home and said the Secret Service just called and Paul Simon is coming to worship at St Paul!  I hastily changed my plans and got ready for church and told our kids to get ready for Sunday School and I’d come home to get them. 

I remember sitting on the left side about 3 rows behind Mr. Simon.  He was in suit and bow tie alone in the pew. Seated in the pew ahead and bit to the left was a secret service agent.  Seated behind him and closer to the aisle was a second agent.  Both agents wore trench coats the entire service and had cords coming out of their ears and didn’t participate but were certainly alert.  

And there sat Paul Simon participating fully with liturgy and hymn singing …he knew his way around the hymnal!

Later I learned he was the son of Lutheran missionaries to China and attended college at Dana.  At that time, he was a U.S. Senator from Illinois and running for President of the United States. 

                                           

He withdrew from the race in April.

GOOD BYE DEAR FRIEND

Since June 11, 2000 we have enjoyed Uncle Don’s Dock.   On that day Jay brought the dock on country back roads to Loon Lake.

Uncle Don with expertise and design built a sturdy dock with a drive shaft so he could attach a motor and “drive” the dock in and out of the lake.  When their new lake home was built the distance between homes didn’t allow for the dock.  Hence the dock was available to us.

We have enjoyed it thoroughly and watched the grandkids grow up. 

Mike often used it for evening reading.  Fish were caught.  I enjoyed basking on a raft tethered to the dock with a dog leash in the summer quiet.  A lift joined the dock for boat rides. Sometimes someone was “bumped” into the water. 

One summer we had so much rain it allowed Mike to walk on water.

Each spring the dock would be evaluated for loose planks and painting if needed.  Our dear neighbor would bring his tractor over to raise the end and push it into the water. In the fall the process was reversed.  It sounds simple but really was quite a process.  Age (ours not the dock's) determined it was time to explore another way to have a dock.

The new owners are younger and have children and I’m so happy to know others will enjoy our beloved dock.

Measurement of Pandemic

It is June 4, 2020.  Since mid-March we’ve worshiped online.  It was suggested to have a candle and bowl of water for worshiping at home.  I found this 12 inch taper.  Now it is 7 inches. 

I’ve made masks.

Now both Mike and I have had haircuts.  Whew.

 

I had a medical checkup on schedule but by zoom.

Now I’ve had a dental checkup 2 months late with lots of careful prep.  I hope the providers are still healthy.

I’ve watched Buena Vista County where Mom lives stay at zero cases for weeks and then balloon to 850 cases and one death.

I haven’t visited Mom for 12 weeks.  I’m thankful my sister is there.

I’ve appreciated a 6 week wellness class.

It is great to sit in a lawn chair bundled up, 6 feet apart, and eat a sandwich with friends and last week we actually were getting sun.

What's the Password?

Myles was 5 1/2 and we were at Andy and Nicholas's home.  Myles found this portable manual typewriter.  He was eager to try it.  Nicholas put it on the floor and got paper and rolled it in.

Myles was ready and asked immediately, "What's the password?"