Thankful for my Refrigerator

I am thankful for my refrigerator.

Why?  Because it is new and shiny?

No.  I'm pretty sure it was original to our house built in 1976. (see picture below)

Is it because it is a great place to proudly display our children's masterpieces?

While I do love the artwork adorning this vintage machine and the pictures of loved ones looking back at me when I go to make quesadillas or grilled cheese for lunch, this is still not the reason.

So, why?  Why am I thankful for my refrigerator?

   I'm always thinking about "What was life like back then?"  Maybe you do that too.  There are a lot of things about "back then" that I like or mimic.  Growing our garden and gathering eggs from our chickens, for example.  But when I grab a tortilla out of a bag that I bought from the store, I think "Wow, that was easy!  Imagine if I had to grow the wheat or corn, harvest it, grind it, and then make this tortilla by hand.  Man am I lucky!"  Or when I am throwing in the 4th load of laundry for the day (we have 3 kids and use cloth diapers) I think, "Can you imagine, Anna, if you had to haul all that to a stream and wash each piece by hand (at least I learned to wash with a scrub board in Montessori school), and then hang it all up to dry.  Whew, we'd have fewer clothes and wear dirtier clothes for sure."
   Well, "back then" they didn't have refrigerators.  It wasn't all that long ago, either.  I love talking to my Grandma about what life was like for her growing up.  They didn't have a refrigerator.  She said they ate what was seasonal, and that they ate a lot of cabbage.  There just wasn't as much food variety.  Things like cous cous had never been heard of in her town.  Now we can walk into a grocery store, buy any kind of fruit or vegetable at any time of the year from all over the world.  Grapes from Chile, avocados from Mexico, cold ice cream, milk, and boneless-skinless chicken breasts can all get brought home and stuck in our refrigerator.
   I am thankful for the food choices we have these days, and I'm thankful I can store ice cream in my freezer.  My refrigerator represents these conveniences that are so very often taken for granted.

   There is one other thing I really like about my refrigerator.  It's proof that I live in a climate in which one is useful.  That may seem funny, but the Eskimos have been on my mind a lot lately... a whole lot.  Especially Eskimo life "back then."  As you may be able to imagine, Eskimos don't need refrigerators.  Where they live it's really really cold.  If I could pick one climate I would absolutely not want to live in, it would be the arctic tundra.  Mind you, they don't need oranges from Florida to give them vitamin C, the muktuk (raw whale skin) they eat is chopped full of vitamins.  What's for dinner as an Inuit?  Whale, caribou, seal, and if you're lucky some berries and roots.  
   Want a lesson in thankfulness?  Just think about the Eskimos.  My two year old daughter was recently throwing a fit because she "wanted a BIGGER piece of brownie."  Wow.  "Dear child," I said, "Just think of the Eskimos back then.  They never had brownies.  Never.  Not bananas, not chickens, not pineapple..."  She looked at me in amazement and continued on with her tantrum.  
  In case you're as curious as I've been about Eskimo life, here is a fascinating video of a father and son getting Muktuk... which made me thankful for my oranges.
   Here is another of them building an igloo, which made me thankful I don't need to know how to build an emergency shelter made of ice.
   Enjoy your Thanksgiving feast that you can store in your very own refrigerator, and think of the Eskimos when you dish up your mac 'n cheese, turkey, and stuffing!  Happy Thanksgiving!