Palette-Able

I often see instructions on recycling projects using castaway wooden pallets. Projects from planter boxes to picnic tables and so many more items were imagined and built. I believe that this is the nature of human beings, the desire to not see something wasted and the ability to let loose innate creativity. This is the nature of the first settlers coming to America. Many of those traditions were passed down through the generations to my grandparents Miner.

My grandfather Raymond Miner worked night shifts in the coal mines, then managed to sleep and farm during the daylight hours. He had 8 children and a wife to support. Corn, hay, and a large garden helped to feed the family and his animals. Usually he kept 2 milk cows, several hogs, and chickens. Any leftover food scraps were fed the pigs and chickens. The milk was used for the family after the cream was removed and made into butter. Any excess eggs were sold or traded to a Jewish fruit and vegetable huckster. When it came time to butcher, every part of the hog was used except the squeal.

Grandma Rebecca was no slouch either. She made Christmas presents of table, chairs, and a cupboard for the girls out of fruit crates. She made her own patterns to create clothing out of newspaper. Left over material was miraculously transformed into quilts, enough quilts to give each one of her 30 grandchildren for wedding presents. Canning meats, fruit, and vegetables were other talents. Her baking skills made mouths water. All of this is remarkable since she only had a fourth grade education. We talk about thinking outside of the box, one Christmas when Granddad was working extra in the mine, caring for the cattle, and trying to catch a few winks Grandma went outside and trimmed several large pines in their yard. Dragging the limbs inside, she strung wires from their 12 foot ceiling and attached the pine to the wire to create her own Christmas tree. My mom Sybil said it was the most beautiful tree they ever had. The recycling movement is just taking steps backward to our grandparent’s era.