Friday, September 10, 2010

Doing the Cancan

The Galop Infernal from Jacques Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld has long been a favorite with our beginning pianists.  When the Caterpillar first learned the theme, we made up some words for it, corresponding with his recycling duties:

Can, can, milk jug, milk jug,
Can, can, milk jug, milk jug,
Can, can, milk jug, milk jug,
Paper, paper, paper, paper . . .

The boys all enjoy dancing to the tune, which appears as a whistled motif in "Wild and Free" by Rednex.  And it is an easy tune for me to think of when engaged in the provident work of home canning.  Encouraging music is helpful when spending a Saturday afternoon bottling 20 quarts of peaches and pears. 

Another tune that comes to my mind when I'm canning is "Jammin'" by Bob Marley.  I know he had something else in mind, but some of the lyrics are applicable when I'm making various flavors of jam.

"To think that jammin' was a thing of the past"

Who makes their own jam anymore?  Well, old-fashioned girls like me.  And ministers, and lawyers, and authors, and engineers.  It's hard to resist making jam with all the free blackberries that grow around here.  And where else can you obtain mango-raspberry jam, or blueberry-peach, without paying a lot for shipping?  Home canning takes time and effort, but for me, the results are well worth the investment. 

"And I hope this jam is gonna last"

. . . at least through another school year of daily peanut butter sandwiches!

1 comment:

  1. I wish I lived by you! I would be over canning with you!!!! My mom is not interested in canning anymore and my mom-in-law who cans like a demon is in Utah. Sigh. At least I get to enjoy your pictures! Nicely done!

    ReplyDelete