This is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are some things they've given him through the years:
~ garden produce - this is a given; when you live in a gardening community, you're going to be given extra tomatoes and cucumbers and zucchini and whatever else the grower can't use up :)
~ oranges
~ corn-on-the-cob from a "famous" local stand
~ pumpkin bread
~ tickets to the circus
~ a free ride on Cass Scenic Railroad
~ clothes for the boys
~ clothes for Jeff
~ clothes for me
~ puppies :)
~ venison
~ bear meat
There are definite advantages to being an old-fashioned, small-town barber!
Saturday, Jeff called from work and announced his latest gift:
Ducks.
My thoughts raced, "Ducks? DUCKS? Why would someone give him ducks? Don't we have enough animals around here? And where are we going to put them? We don't have a pond!"
Then he clarified:
Dead ducks.
My thoughts took off again, "Oh, duck meat. Somebody shot some ducks and cut them up and gave Jeff some of the meat. He'll bring home some Ziploc baggies of duck meat; and although I don't really know how to cook duck, we'll figure something out. I can look up some info on the Internet."
I still didn't have it quite right.
This is what those ducks looked like:
Jeff was not discouraged. His little boy tribe gathered around him and watched as their Daddy-Who-Can-Do-Anything did...well...something to the ducks to get some meat to grill for dinner. The boys thought it was grand.
I, on the other hand, didn't enjoy it quite as much. I'm not a vegetarian, and I've lived in the country long enough and spent enough time during my growing-up years on my grandparents' farm to know, for example, that the delicious fried chicken Grandma served for dinner was pecking around the barnyard just the day before and the juicy steaks we enjoyed recently came from the steer whose dark brown eyes I gazed into last summer. It's the cycle of life, and I get that.
But these ducks were so pretty! In a flash, I turned into one of those kinds of people who doesn't mind eating meat, but would rather buy it wrapped in cellophane at the grocery store, and who doesn't want to think too much about where it came from before that!
If only Jeff's customers weren't quite so generous! ;-)
7 comments:
I totally *get* what you're saying. I love having fresh meat, an knowing there are no additives etc in the meat. But.... BUT - I want it all in bags before I see it. Aren't we glad we've got men! x
OH DEAR! I am one of those need to have it neatly wrapped in cellophane on the styrofoam tray that I purchased from the grocery store.
That doesn't happen when your husband brings an elk home every year. Thankfully they do have it processed somewhere other than my garage lol. Still I know He killed it! I have a hard time with it. you would think after 16 years I would like Elk. NOT the case. BUT I suffer through it. I used to make an elk roast in the crock~pot every Monday night when I had bible study ;0) then I would just snack at bible study for my dinner.
Well our new adventure is going to be Raising Chickens this spring. I know that I will have to do something about the roosters. And I think Fried Chicken is going to end up on the menu, well maybe roast chicken. I have NO Idea what to do with a rooster that still has it's feathers on. I suppose I will have to ask around and research the internet.
Thanks for sharing, I love your posts!
I love getting mine wrapped up too. I bet the duck was good though.
Hmm, I think I'd be a bit squeamish about the whole process too but I know for a fact that my boys, like yours, would love every minute of it!
i was thinking the same thing: that living outside the city limits pretty much entitled you to seeing an animal die and the "things" that go with it. ;)
this post reminds me of little house on the prarie and how Doc Baker always got chickens and such as payment. but i'm sure jeff gets a little money for cutting ppl's hair... ;)
LOL oohh my goodness.. I will eat meat.. I will cook meat.. I will prepare it in the removed from the body state.. or even the insides removed state.. Those docks were very pretty. so the question is.. was it good?
Lindsay, well, that's the funny thing. I did NOT think it tasted good! :)
I'm no expert on duck, but I have had it before (in a restaurant, where somebody who really knew what they were doing had prepared it) and liked it. But these poor ducks that were given to us tasted like liver, and I am no fan of liver!!!
Maybe my mind was just playing tricks on me, but for whatever reason, I didn't really enjoy the taste at all. :)
I only ate a tiny portion, but Josiah ate it heartily and David liked it, too, as long as the pieces given to him didn't look red at all. Jeff ate the most. I'm sure my parents each had a little bit, but I can't remember that they were overly enthusiastic about it. Although, now that I think of it, my dad actually likes liver. Maybe he thought it tasted fantastic! :)
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