Milk Men and Ice Cream

Anyone who knows our family knows how much we love milk.
When everyone is home, we go through twelve gallons of milk each week.
We bake, we eat oatmeal, we enjoy cereal, we drink milk with our meals.

It is a fact that dairy farmers love us!
I know…because one of my daughter’s dear friend is married to a dairy farmer!

A gallon of milk will be finished at one meal when my boys are home.
Strong bones…strong teeth the doctors and dentists have said.
We just think it is delicious.

In our early married years, my husband decided that we needed a milkman.
I thought he was being facetious, but he was serious.
There was a local dairy that had milk delivery.

I remember the first day the milkman came to our home.
His clean truck pulled up the driveway.
He gave me an insulated, metal box with a lid, which was to be placed outside the garage.

Empty milk bottles, needed to be rinsed first, and then put inside.
The milkman would collect the used milk bottles and deliver new ones to me.
The new ones came in a red crate, with the name of the dairy on the side.

We discussed our usage each week.
He just smiled…a really big smile!

My children loved when the milkman pulled into the driveway.
They loved to touch the back of his truck since it was always so cold!
The milkman had other things in his truck, but milk was all we needed.

It was a bit more expensive to have our milk delivered, but it was so convenient.
We eventually moved from that house and had to stop our milk delivery.
I was sad the day the truck pulled down our driveway for the last time.
I was sad when I had to return the insulated metal box.
The end of an era.

On that last day, the milkman told me that I could take the children to the dairy.
We have home made ice cream!

It became our “go-to” place.
It became our “last day of school, ice cream celebration”.
You could walk inside and actually sit at the counter on high stools that swiveled.

A girl, much too tiny to scoop ice cream from big tubs, scooped our ice cream perfectly.
Hand written signs hung behind the counter, advertising the newest ice cream creation.
Much too large for the average person, these concoctions were designed for the brave!

The dairy had a front porch with picnic tables.
At one time, there was a replica of a horse that the children could climb on.

It was great fun!
I loved sitting on the porch and looking out into the cornfields.
I loved hearing the cows as we ate our ice cream.

My youngest daughter and I were out shopping.
We were near the dairy farm.
She was very young when we used to go there for ice cream.
She had to take my word for it…that she really had been there.

Can we go…for old times sake?
Even though it was before lunch, and not the time for ice cream…it was the perfect time!
I remembered the road and knew I could find the dairy again.
It had been years since our last visit.

We pulled down a country road, and saw the sign.
Good job, Mom!
I could taste the chocolate chip ice cream already.

We pulled in, with the cornfields in front of us.
I saw trailers parked in the parking lot.
The years seemed to have taken their toll.

We were just talking about the replica of the horse…
And we saw it.
A small sign on the window…a sign that anyone could buy in a hardware store.
CLOSED!

The store looked tired, and old, and sad, and forgotten.
We both looked at each other in disbelief.

I pointed to where the replica of the horse would have been.
I pointed to where the tables were placed.
The porch looked smaller than I remember.

An end of an era…and I was sad!

Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. (Jeremiah 6:16)

Change and progress are inevitable.
However, we must never let the ancient paths become overgrown.
Those paths are necessary.
Those paths are important.

Our culture wants new, improved, and streamlined.
Faster, more efficient, and profitable.

The Mom and Pop businesses are slowly fading away.
More and more CLOSED signs are popping up over the landscape.

Nostalgic?
Wistful?
A little…

It is more the way of life I miss.
It is the personal interactions I long for.
It is the replica of a horse on a front porch…swivel stools and ice cream tubs.

Old fashioned?
Yes…but that’s just fine!

Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders and they will explain it to you. (Deuteronomy 32:7)

Remember and tell.
A younger generation needs to hear.