by Templa Melnick | Nov 3, 2014 | Colorado history, Templa's Trivia
My first grand babies entered the world a few weeks ago, in a hospital hundreds of miles away from this grandmother. And, within minutes of their arrival I had pictures of their sweet little faces on my smart phone via a text from my son. A few hours later, friends and family – and a bunch of people I don’t know, were ooohing and aaahing over these precious little ones as they made their debut on Facebook and Instagram.
And the funny thing is… I took this immediate exchange of information for granted. As though I’ve always had this technology at my fingertips, when in fact, I was a latecomer to the technoparty.
There have been vast changes to the way we communicate over the past decade or two. Smart phones have replaced cell phones, which replaced pagers, (I know, some of you just said, “What’s a pager?”) which brought a whole new level of “instant availability” to the world.
Before that, our phones were stationary devices that were hooked to a wall with a curly cord. If you wanted to drive your mother crazy, all you had to do was empty a box of birdseed onto the floor juuuuuust beyond the limits of that stretchy – but limited cord. (One of my earliest childhood memories right there. And, alas, when my mom hung UP the phone, she reached me just fine. Something my three- year- old reasoning had failed to take into consideration!)
A few decades ago, if you weren’t home when the phone rang, that was it. You missed the call. There were no voicemails, no caller ID, no text messages.
And does anyone remember the “party line?” In rural areas, or to save a few bucks on the monthly bill, you could share a line with several other families. So, you’d listen for your family’s distinct ring before you answered. And if you were the gossipy type, you might listen in on other people’s conversations.
The first long distance telephone call was made May 8th, 1910 from Denver, Colorado to New York City, New York. According to the Museum of Western Colorado
, the first telephone lines reached Fruita, Colorado around 1900. But, it would be another twenty or thirty years before the majority of western slope households had their own telephone.
I knew a woman who worked for the telephone company back in the 1940’s and 1950’s here on the western slope of Colorado. Her first job out of high school was as the operator who physically connected each incoming call. (Remember the TV show Andy Griffith, and the operator named Sarah that was always on the line when they picked up the phone? Yeah, it was really like that.) There was a certain young man that she was interested in. Whenever he would ask to speak to another young woman in their little community, she’d “accidentally” drop the connection or connect him to the wrong number. When I met her, they’d been married for over fifty years. They still laughed about how she had kept the competition away.
I love my smart phone. I really do. But, I was checking my email while waiting in line at the grocery store when I realized that the line separating work from the rest of my life has gotten really, really fuzzy. And the constant flow of cyber chatter can be overwhelming. I find myself longing for “the good old days” when people had an office phone and a house phone. Period. And email was an office thing.
Then I take it a step further, and think about the days before telephones at all. Hmmm. That might be nice. No pesky political calls or pushy sales people, no interrupting of family time. No blurring of the lines between work and the rest of my life. It seems so peaceful… so quiet.
But wait. I wouldn’t have those first, sweet glimpses of my grandbabies. And I wouldn’t have received the call that set my heart at ease, “They’re here. Mom and babies are doing great.” And we wouldn’t have had the answers at our fingertips for all of those new baby questions… Is this normal? What do you do when…? (Wow. I wish we’d had the internet when MY babies were born!) And I wouldn’t have been able to share the joyous news with all of MY friends and family.
So, here it is: I have a love/hate relationship with my smart phone. Technology is my friend. And my enemy. I love feeling connected to friends and loved ones with a simple scroll through social media sites. I love having instant access to reliable directions when I’m in a strange city. And at the same time, I hate the interruptions that pull me away from my time with the people I love. I dislike the distraction and the constant chatter I subject myself to via social media, and the stress of never really leaving work at work. There’s a balance in there somewhere… I just haven’t found it yet.
by Templa Melnick | Aug 27, 2014 | Templa's Trivia
“Working mothers” have existed since the day Eve started this whole shindig. It’s impossible to have children – especially babies – without an exponential increase in the daily work load. And regardless of how sophisticated our society has become, much of the increased work load falls on the moms. With a few notable exceptions, the woman of the house usually does the grocery shopping, packs lunches, does the laundry, takes the dog to the vet, makes sure the kids do homework and brush their teeth, and all the other piddly little things that need to be done to keep the modern family afloat. When a little one has a tummy ache or an ear ache, or the night-before-first-day-of-school jitters, one person seems to be bellowed at from the recesses of the dark hallway. And her name is “Mommy.”
Scientific studies have concluded (and generated a lot of controversy, I should add) that men’s and women’s brains are wired differently. Well, yeah. Unless you’ve lived in a secluded bio-dome or under a rock, you’ve probably suspected as much. Aside from the obvious “if we were all the same, it would be boring”, there is good reason for men and women to function differently. I didn’t say one was better than the other. I believe we are designed to complement each other.
In the past, men’s roles were to protect and to provide for the family group (deterring attacks from dangerous animals or warring tribes, hunting, trading… all that good stuff.) Women often stayed a little closer to the home dwelling, and in addition to many other crucial tasks, traditionally had the care and feeding of children as a primary responsibility. Again…Well, yeah. Women are biologically equipped to feed babies. Men (as any father of a nursing baby can tell you) are in over their heads when the youngest member of the family gets hungry.
So, scientific data that suggests women are designed to “multitask” really shouldn’t surprise us. (Side note: The term “multitasking” originated in the computer engineering industry. It refers to the ability of a microprocessor to process several tasks simultaneously. The first published use of the word “multitask” appeared in an IBM paper describing the capabilities of the IBM System/360 in 1965.)
Native American Indian women created functional and often beautiful carriers for their babies. These enabled them to take their babies with them while performing daily tasks such as scraping skins from the hunt, gathering berries and healing herbs, and cooking. Multitasking. It’s not a new concept, just a fancy word that describes what women have been doing since the very beginning. Have you seen the National Geographic photos of beautiful African women with baskets on their heads and children in tow? How about the Vietnamese women in rice paddies with children on their backs? Through the years, women have come up with inventive ways to do several things at once. Why? Things had to be done!
TwinGo Carrier
Osage Twins circa 1900
Have you seen the modern upgrades to the old-fashioned baby boards? These savvy moms and dads are using a centuries old concept to keep their babies close and still have hands free for important daily tasks like cooking dinner and shopping. (This mom of triplets is amazing. Wow. Just wow.)
In my research for Season of Forgiveness, I came across a very clever invention from the early 1900’s. It was a wringer washing machine with a cradle built onto the top of the wringer. As the lady of the house turned the crank to wring the water out of the clothes, it rocked the baby. (Alas, I did not get a picture.) Multitasking. Or, in the terminology of the day, survival.
Since my daughters-in-law (yes, that’s plural) are expecting and will be expanding our family soon, I’ve been thinking about all of the challenges and changes that come with babies. And so have they! They’ve read the latest books and blogs on parenting, busily prepared nurseries, and stocked up on diapers. The truth is, regardless of how prepared you are, and how much you want to be a parent, sometimes… it’s just hard. Especially those first few months. Anybody who tells you differently is lying. But…
If you keep it all in perspective (and here, I’m talking about perspective during the midnight meltdowns that most new parents experience at least once), I’m pretty sure some things are better now versus a hundred years ago. Disposable diapers, baby food in jars, washing machines that you don’t have to turn by hand, (and electricity in general!) not to mention ultrasounds, NICU, and all of the medical miracles we have today.
But by far the most important change, the MEN who have stepped up to take a more active role in parenting. Thanks daddies. Thank you for all of those late night diaper changes, the bedtime stories that only you do the right voices for, the horsey rides, and for all of the dozens of little things you do to keep the family rolling. Your kids will be better people because of you. Your wife will love you for it – and if she doesn’t, she should. And you, daddies, will have the joy of being a part of your children’s lives from the very beginning.
So, new moms: take courage! Women have been successfully mothering babies for eons. (Okay, not all of them did a great job – but you will.) Yes, it will be challenging. And even though you may be called upon to juggle corporate conferences and breastfeeding, or maneuver rush hour traffic with wailing twins in the backseat, you won’t have to strap the babies to your back while scraping a buffalo hide nor will you be required to rock the baby while squeezing dirty wash water out of your husband’s drawers. And another important change from a hundred years ago: your husbands know how to do laundry. Trust me. They do know how. But you might push your fancy sweaters to the back of the closet… at least for a little while .
Men Doing Laundry
by Templa Melnick | Aug 13, 2014 | Templa's Trivia
Fermented Foods in the Old West
The health benefits of fermented foods are being touted everywhere these days. And, yes. I’m on the fermented foods bandwagon, too. As I write this, I have a glass of home-brewed kombucha sitting next to me. (What’s kombucha, you ask? Kombucha is an “ancient fermented tea beverage” that has a natural effervescence (like bubbly carbonation) that is full of probiotics, antioxidants, B vitamins and so much more.)
So, what’s all the hype? Fermented foods are good for the gut, aid digestion, increase the nutrient value of many foods, and … have been a reliable way to preserve food for centuries. Fermented foods are certainly not a new concept. Virtually all civilizations have had fermented foods as a part of their diet and culture. And not all fermented foods have their origins in other countries.
According to researchers at the Weston A Price Foundation, most of the Native American Indian tribes had at least one fermented food specialty.
The Cherokee “bread” consisted of nixtamal wrapped in corn leaves and allowed to ferment for two weeks. Before you turn your nose up at this, you should be aware that this process increases the nutrient absorption, makes the corn easier to digest … and is similar to the process for masa that is used to create the ultimate comfort food – tamales. Mmmm.
Nixtamal
English explorer, fur trader, naturalist and author Samuel Hearne describes a fermented dish consumed by the Chippewaya and Cree: “The most remarkable dish among them. . . is blood mixed with the half-digested food which is found in the caribou’s stomach, and boiled up with a sufficient quantity of water to make it of the consistence of pease-pottage. Some fat and scraps of tender flesh are also shred small and boiled with it. To render this dish more palatable, they have a method of mixing the blood with the contents of the stomach in the paunch itself, and hanging it up in the heat and smoke of the fire for several days; which puts the whole mass into a state of fermentation, which gives it such an agreeable acid taste, that were it not for prejudice, it might be eaten by those who have the nicest palates.” (Um, if you say so. But then again, salami is a fermented meat. And I haven’t ever turned my nose up at salami.)
Fermented meat
In the Southwest, a drink called chichi was made with little balls of corn dough which the women chewed and added to water to produce a delicious, sour, fizzy fermented drink. (Sounds a little like kombucha – but instead of scoby, it has saliva as the fermentation catalyst. Ick.)
I’m not going to lie. The thought of those ladies sitting around, pre-chewing corn dough to make chichi makes me shudder. I appreciate the effort. I really do. I’m just not sure I’d be able to drink it. Ever. Even if it is tasty and good for me. Although, just looking at the kombucha scoby made me shudder at first too.
Homesteaders and settlers brought their own versions of fermented foods along with them when they arrived in western Colorado. Cabbage was turned into sauerkraut and enjoyed throughout the cold winter months, adding much needed nutrients and healthy probiotics to their diets. Have you ever noticed how many different recipes there are for pickles? Pickling was a reliable way to preserve food before refrigeration was available. Along with the preservation of the food itself, pickling can provide numerous healthy side benefits. From the vinegar used to make pickles, to sourdough bread, yogurt, salami, and cheese; these fermented old friends are worthy of a little applause.
Pickles
According to experts, pickles alone – the non-heat processed variety – could help us live a healthier, happier life. And they tell me fermented foods can provide us with a healthier gut, possible help controlling weight gain and appetite, decreased allergy symptoms, inflammation relief, protection against microbial infections, improved pediatric health and development, possible cancer risk reduction, improved mental health, as well as better absorption of nutrients.
I’ll raise my glass of kombucha to that. Cheers.
by Templa Melnick | Jul 22, 2014 | Colorado history
On family road trips as a child, my mind would be a hundred years away as I contemplated what it was like to be rattling over the sagebrush in a covered wagon. Once, in a rare moment with my grandmother, she told me that she rode from Missouri to South Dakota in a covered wagon when she was a little girl. My awe amused her. She quickly dashed my romanticized (thanks Hollywood!) image of the event to the rocky ground. Her version included biting flies the likes of which I’ve only seen in horror movies, miserable heat and humidity, and endless hours of unchanging scenery broken up by harrowing river crossings and broken wagon wheels. She remembered the broken wheels vividly because her father expanded her vocabulary during a repair.
Today, as I drive along the (mostly) modern highways of western Colorado, with my air conditioner and i-tunes blasting, I can’t help but think of the hearty folks who clambered over these roads before they were paved. What was it like to trek from Grand Junction to Montrose a hundred years ago? How long did it take to schlep over the magnificent Rocky Mountains that divide the state of Colorado into the eastern and western slopes? Who drove the first cars in this lovely state?
In my book, Season of Forgiveness, I staged a silly – and slightly unnecessary – scene with a race between a motor car and a team of horses pulling a wagon. I chose the Pierce-Arrow motor car for my fictional race for two reasons. First, it was the largest car manufactured at the time, and Emma has a large family. Secondly, the Pierce-Arrow was the most luxurious and expensive automobile manufactured at that time and for many years afterwards.
As the Civil War tore our nation apart, George Pierce began his career by manufacturing ice-boxes, birdcages, and bathtubs. He later built bicycles, which were the hot item of the 1890’s, before becoming an automaker. He built his first Pierce Motorette in 1901 with a single cylinder, 31/2-horsepower, water-cooled deDion engine in the rear, replaced in 1903 by Pierce’s own engine. Some 170 Motorettes were made between 1901 and 1903. Next, there was the Stanhope with its Pierce engine under the driver’s seat.
In 1904, the Great Arrow appeared with a four-cylinder Pierce engine. It used cast aluminum body panels, one of many Pierce-Arrow innovations. Pierce- Arrow used aluminum extensively during its history. The 1904 Great Arrow cost $4,000, making it one of the most expensive cars at the time.
Even with such innovations as the Pierce-Arrow’s cast aluminum body panels and four-cylinder engine, early automobiles struggled with Colorado’s rough mountain terrain and the distances between communities. Fuel for the engines was not always readily available.
It would be another fifteen years or so before automobiles were common place in western Colorado. According to a few of the local old-timers, many western slope ranchers and farmers still preferred their trusty team of horses and wagon well into the 1930’s.
According to the history buffs at the Pierce-Arrow Society, (Pierce-Arrow.org)
Trusty Team and Wagon
Pierce-Arrows were bought by the rich and famous worldwide. The long and impressive list of owners included heads of state, royalty, congressmen, ambassadors, governors, businessmen, entertainers, and as in MY story, lucky gamblers. Pierce-Arrows were part of the White House fleet from the Taft to Roosevelt administration. In 1909, President Taft, the first President to use an automobile for official duties, ordered two Pierce-Arrows, a brougham and a landaulette. The last Presidential Pierce-Arrow was a 1935 model.
Just in case you were wondering, the car in the photo, a 1905 Pierce-Arrow, was sold at auction a few years back for over $200,000. Sadly, the innovative manufacturer that brought this beauty into the world was hit very hard during the Great Depression and is no longer in existence
As I maneuver the well-traveled interstate today, I’ll try not to grumble at the construction delays or the other drivers who are distracted by their cell phones and toddlers in the backseats. Instead, I’ll let my mind wander as I settle into my climate controlled leather seat. I’ll imagine what this drive would have been like in 1904. Would I have been one of the brave and prosperous few to attempt this drive in a Pierce-Arrow? Or would I drive the tried-and-true team of horses and wagon? I’ll imagine the tedium interspersed with danger of the trek across these beautiful mountains that I am blessed to call my home. Sometimes an overactive imagination comes in handy.
1904 Pierce-Arrow
by Templa Melnick | Jul 15, 2014 | Templa's Trivia
Good things come in 3’s
Good Things Come in 3’s!
No one ever really thinks that life imitates art… until it happens to them.
I created a character in my novel, Emma, who is the mother of seven sons. The inspiration for Emma came from my own lineage of amazing, strong, determined women. My grandmothers – and my husband’s grandmothers – were women who crossed the prairies in covered wagons, raised children in challenging circumstances, endured hardships I can’t even imagine, and still managed to maintain a sense of humor and a love of life in general. Yeah. They’re a pretty amazing group of women.
But let’s go back to “mother of seven sons.” In the story, Emma and her husband Jake have two sets of twin boys. When I wrote the book, there were no twins in our family. The idea of twins was fun to think about, but I didn’t have any first – hand knowledge of what it would be like to give birth to or raise twin boys.
As my book hits the streets – or stands, or whatever books hit when they’re published, my daughter-in-law is pregnant with our first grandbabies. Yes, that is plural. Twins. Twin boys. They’ll arrive sometime this fall. (Shhh…. don’t tell L that Emma had seven sons. That’s as cruel as the husband who starts talking about baby number two when his wife is in the recovery room with their first child after 20million hours of labor.) But not to worry. She’s not the only daughter-in-law.
Because awesome things happen in threes, my OTHER daughter-in-law will be bringing the first ever Melnick girl into the world sometime around Thanksgiving. I’ve seen my tiny granddaughter in a fuzzy, blurry ultrasound. She waved at me. Really. She did. I could at least recognize the little hand as a hand. The rest of it, I had to take on faith that the ultrasound tech knew her stuff.
Baby girl bun in the oven
Twin boy buns in the oven
The notion of twins has now transformed from the highly romanticized version in my head to the reality of two of everything. That means L is making room as best she can for two growing babies in her not-so-long-ago itty bitty body. And she’s learning on the fly about the dozens of medical terms and complications that come along with the double blessing of twins. My son and his wife are making huge adjustments in their lives to make room for these two wonderful baby boys. And their two cribs, two car seats, two high chairs. Well, you get the idea.
So of course, I can’t help but ponder what it was like for Emma when she was pregnant with her twins, back in 1884. Was she aware she was having twins? Probably not. Ultrasound technology was a long way off. Did she have to scramble after the babies’ births to find another cradle, another everything? Probably! Did she have help with the two newborn babies? Again, probably not. And she didn’t have a phone, google, or a community of mommy-bloggers to go to for advice. No wonder she’s so unflappable now.
So often, we tend to romanticize past eras. Maybe that’s just me. I envisioned a life of riding horses across an open field instead of racing around in rush hour traffic. I imagined peacefully hanging clothes on a clothesline while the sheets snapped in the breeze instead of waiting for the appliance repairman to show up. I dreamed of the joyous freedom that would come from a self-sustaining lifestyle while compiling a sales presentation at midnight amidst stacks of unopened bills. The reality is that our modern life is complicated. But with our complications, some tremendous improvements have also come about.
According to the Center for Disease Control, at the beginning of the 20th century, for every 1000 live births, six to nine women in the United States died of pregnancy-related complications, and in some U.S. cities, up to 30% of infants died before reaching their first birthday. (CDC MMWR Weekly, October 01, 1999 / 48(38);849-858)
With that being said, I’m very, very happy that MY grandchildren will be born in this time and place, to mommies with excellent nutrition and access to good medical care. My grandbabies have mommies and daddies who are making sure that they’ll have all the stuff on hand that these little ones will need. And, possibly a lot of stuff they won’t need. (Don’t judge. There are some irresistible baby things out there! And grandmothers get excited.)
Don’t forget the amazing technology at new parents’ fingertips. Colic? Teething? All of those “is this normal?” questions that usually come up in the wee hours of the night. With just a tap or two on your smart-phone, you can find suggestions, advice, and pages and pages of whining mothers who blog about stuff that makes you feel like a superstar for coping without drama.
So, I’m feeling a lot of sympathy for Emma. Sorry I made your life so challenging, girl. But I’m also thinking that right now is a good era. I’m looking forward to the adventures with my grandchildren that will take place in the not-so-distant-future.
, the first telephone lines reached Fruita, Colorado around 1900. But, it would be another twenty or thirty years before the majority of western slope households had their own telephone.
