Saturday was a Special Day

Growing up Saturdays were outside chore days.   Things like lawn mowing, leaf gathering and car washing.  Beings that I was the oldest and my brothers didn't come along for a while outside chores were part of my growing up.  My dad had a fancy high-speed mower that was a bit too powerful for the likes of me.   I would want to try but he would always crank up the throttle so it made it almost impossible for me to handle.  He was funny that way.  But the lawn sweeper was manually operated.........just my speed.  I would push it across the lawn to gather all those pesky fallen leaves in the fall.  Our home was built in a former walnut orchard.  I remember at least three trees in our front yard.  They made for tons of leaves! 

The other Saturday activity involved washing the cars.  Every Saturday the cars were washed, that's just what we did.   I remember him filling up a bucket he had just put the soap into and with the pressure of the hose it would foam like no other as the water rose to the top.  He had an order about his car washing.  First he would vacuum out the car.  The inside was just as important as the outside.  Then onto the outside. Seems like he would clean the tires white walls first (although that part seems like it should have been last, but that is what my memory tells me today), then he would spray up under the wheel wells, next he would spray off the car and then he would work his way around the car.  Cleaning a little then spraying off the soap.  Finally once the car was cleaned to his satisfaction, out came the chamois.  A chamois is a type of porous leather that is non-abrasive and very absorbent.  He would get the chamois wet then ring it out. Then starting with the top of the car he would drag the chamois over the car pulling the chamois toward him.  When the chamois could no longer hold any more water he would ring it out and start over again.  Towels were never used for this drying off process nor was a quick spin around the block.  He hand-washed and hand-dried.  No streaks, no lint!

Thanks for the lessons Dad!