SHOES – Oh How I Miss You!

I did it.  I broke down and bought a pair of shoes this week.  I have waited and waited to purchase a pair because in rationing – you are only allowed to buy one pair of shoes for the year.  One Pair.  That’s it.  Only one pair – even if it is a buy one pair – get one pair half off.  Nope – even if you have the money to buy more than one pair… you only get one ration stamp. 

See those wonderful red shoes shining in the window…???  Do you hear them calling your name?  Oh, wouldn’t they look great on the dance floor?  Oh and look at those lime green shoes…. Oh and those beautiful brown ones – they would be great for work….  Hummm , my dress shoes has a heel that is starting to come loose… Maybe this would be a great use of my ONE ration stamp for shoes.

One Stamp, One pair of shoes, One… that is it…

Ha Ha- are you starting to feel my pain?  I walk slowly by the shoe store on my way home from work.  All those beautiful shoes are calling out my name.  They are shiny, they are new.  Oh they look – and FEEL- great.  Better than my old, smelly work shoes I have now, that have lost their shine and the heel on the left foot is loose.  I only get to buy one pair of shoes.

And because of that – they have to be functional  and be what I need.  Not what I want.

Those shiny red shoes are beautiful… but they will not match all my outfits that I wear – and …. They … are… not… functional….! Gerrrr!

So today I bought a pair of shoes.

A pair of functional shoes.

Shoes that I needed – not shoes that I wanted.

I did not pick them by their color.

I did not pick them by their price.

I picked them for what they could do for me.

These are the shoes I need for every day-

For walking to work (not driving my car)

For biking to the store (saving gas)

Today – I bought a pair of functional shoes

I was rational – not fashionable

Functional – not fun

Today I bought shoes

Boring

 white

athletic

 shoes.

Eating Victoriously!!!

It is in!  My victory garden has produce!  I am so excited.

This week I realized that I needed to start harvesting my garden if I wanted to get a few crops out of it.  Being that the garden has been growing in indoor flower boxes – I put on a movie and sat watching while picking lettuce, spinach, and some weird broccoli thing.  I picked enough for a huge salad  (which I ate for supper) and had fresh lettuce, spinach salads for lunch all week.

Who knew that freshly picked spinach is sweet.  I sat eating it while finishing my movie. UMMM – I am very proud that it grew.  I grew my own food.

One thing I would do differently is …. Mark what I planted where.  I have no idea what some of the plants are.  I think one is a beet plant – I have started pollinating the flowers so that it will grow something (hummm … maybe it is cucumbers…????).  It has yellow leaves like a pumpkin plant.  I also have heritage tomatoes that need to go outside soon … I am checking to see if there is a balcony that I could use.

I now understand the excitement that would come with that first harvest of a victory garden.

The Joy of Walking

It has rained a lot this week.  And walking home from work in the rain has made me wish for being able to drive in my nice dry and warm car (especially because I have forgotten my umbrella so often!).  Yet this morning - as I walked to work... I realized the joy that comes from walking.


I work at a job that holds a lot of stress - and I work with people who are going through tough emotional times.  Often it is easy for me to carry home those emotions.  But something happens on that walk to or from work.

That walk gives me time to breath in deep the clean air.  It gives me a chance to victoriously walk off some of the emotional energy that I carry.  This spring it has been wonderful to hear the birds sing, see the leaves grow on the trees, and to smell the flowers.

When I walk to work - I have a chance to center myself before work.  I have time for quiet reflection - something that I would not have while driving, where I would listen to the radio or have to deal with bad drivers.  No - instead of the hurry and hustle of driving to work - I get a chance to reflect on life.  I get the opportunity to watch and enjoy nature, and I get the Joy that comes from that.

So in the process of trying to save on gas and rubber rations - I have discovered a more powerful outcome - an opportunity for moments of quiet reflection and inner peace.  I have to say - even on the rainy days - I love this rationing experiment and what I am learning.

Dusting off the Sewing machine

OK... the rationing is going so well... that most of my clothes do not fit well anymore.  (I have lost around 20 pounds or so..)  Yesterday as I was running... We must stay fit and healthy... My running pants would not stay up!

So I have a predicament.  I am only aloud one outfit of new clothes.  Do I want to waist that outfit on work out clothes (I also am in need of new running shoes but I am NOT wasting my one pare of new shoes on athletic shoes...!!!)?  My answer is NO!


So this week I have dusted off my sewing machine.  I am going to see if I can take in a lot of my clothes.  See if I can change my dress pants to a size smaller.  I am also desperate for a new work suit... So I am on the look out for an old used men's wool suit. 

I have a pamphlet on how to cut out a women's suit out of a larger men's suit.  It was published by the University of Minnesota in 1943.  It is a way to reuse fabric, and I have decided now is the time to try it.

I am looking forwards to a Hanger Dance in mid May and I want a new outfit to wear...so I have decided to make my own.

I will keep you updated as I keep working on it...  Learning how to make New out of Used.

How did Store Owners Survive WWII?

As I am approaching the middle of this experiment... I want to know how the merchant people survived.  How did clothing stores and shoe stores stay open when most people only could buy one or two outfits a year? 

This is the question I have been wondering about.  I have now gone half a year without buying new clothes or shoes (a record for me)!  I just walked through Target today… through the shoe section – and tried on a few pairs… just for fun.  I tried them on – imagining how they would look at work… then sadly put them back in their box.  Knowing it is for the good of our world.

I can imagine that is what women felt too.  In the US many women were making more money than they had ever made before – and yet for the war effort – they did not buy on impulse.  They did not pick up that perfect hat or shoes, or that lovely summer top new for this season.  They (many of them – I realize not everyone) would dutifully buy their war bonds and count their ration stamps for their shoes, while sighing at the shoes in the window displays.

 

How different our economy would be if people did not buy on impulse.  The whole world of marketing is based on people buy things without a lot of thought behind it.  Would Target, Wal-Mart, or any other big department store survive if people could only buy so much?  Or would we go back to corner grocery stores and independently own clothing and shoe stores?  Which way is better?  If people were willing to save up, and own only a few things – that have high quality… could that thought end injustices forced on children and slave labor used to make the things we buy impulsively.

These are the questions that I think about when I try on these shoes… then smile, and put them back on the shelf.

My Indoor Victory Garden

I have done it.  Last week I planted my first victory garden.  Being that I live in a studio apartment and will possibly be moving cities at the end of August… I decided to see what will grow inside.

I started out by going to the store to get two window boxes that I could place on my radiators (now that it has been so unseasonably warm) and grow lettuce and spinach.  My grandfather was a great farmer and also grew many plants in a greenhouse each year.  That skill, the green thumb, passed on to my mother.  Each year we would plant a huge garden that took up over half of the back yard.  Somehow - that skill of a green thumb did not pass on to me.

The last plant that did very well was this beautiful Ivy that I grew in college.  It didn’t die when I forgot to water it, it just continued to flourish.  It did so well - that it was out growing its pot when I packed it up and brought it home for winter break.  I never knew what happened to it – after it road home in the trunk of my car for a two hour trip in subzero weather, it never grew leaves again.  I watered it for two months after that faithful ride in the car… but it never came back.

What I Planted...

Knowing that- I was at a loss in the store as I looked at dirt and pots.  I asked this kind lady, who was also shopping in the store, what she thought about growing things inside.  Well, she took me by the hand and picked out my dirt, my seeds, and also convinced me to try other vegetables besides greens…

I think that is the Tomato plant in the center

So now I have four pots.  In the more shallow pots – I planted lettuce greens, spinach greens and some type of broccoli.  In the deeper pots, I planted carrots, radishes, a tomato plant, and one beet.  I also started some green onions around the edges of the plants.

My hope is to harvest some of the vegetables and then plant more seeds – so the garden will be producing throughout the summer.  I can’t wait to taste the fresh greens and carrots….  What has really amazed me is how much the plants grow in the night time.  That is something I didn’t see when they were planted outside.

I could not see spending so much money on a watering can… so I made my own out of a old milk container with holes punched in the top.  It works pretty good – and helps me measure out how much water is being put on the garden.  I did buy a shelf to put pots on… and the legs were not tall enough- so I took some of my spools of thread, taped them together, and they work great to heighten the shelf (I don’t believe they are earthquake proof J). 

So join me in watching this garden grow… I can’t wait to start eating victory vegetable soup!

My Hero’s Birthday

My Grandmother Helen turned 90!

This January- my hero had her Birthday.  My Grandmother, the one who has told me the most about living out WWII rationing and life during the War turned 90 years old.  It was a wonderful time to celebrate with her and to hear some new stories.

My Grandmother is the reason that I chose to see what living under WWII rations was like.  She has an amazing story.  She was married at the beginning of the War and followed my Grandfather as he went through flight training in the south, then to California where she worked as a riveter making air planes.  She was sent back to South Dakota to live with my Grandfathers dad when she couldn’t live on base with my Grandfather, then would pack up 6 months later to join him somewhere else.  She learned to live on very little and to be happy sharing a home with other military wives, sleeping on the couch because there were not enough bedrooms. (Many bases did not have family housing).

With my hero!

My Grandmother is a strong woman – who learned how to care for herself and do what she needed to do to keep a family while my grandfather flew DC3’s from Brazil to Mexico for repairs then flew them back to Brazil (on their way to Europe).  This experiment has been a wonderful way to connect with my Grandmother and to hear the woman’s side of the story of WWII.

It was amazing to see how people honored the life of my grandmother and I was glad to be a part of it.  The history and stories of this generation is so important to hear and to remember.  They are amazing stories of survival and of finding joy in the midst of chaos.  They truly are the greatest generation and I am proud to know them and learn from them.