A Five Gallon Bucket of Lard

I spent a couple days this week rendering lard. We had a 1/2 beef coming and I had to make room in my deep freeze. I had accumulated a pretty good supply of pig fat so rendering it was no small task. When it was all said and done I ended up with six gallons of lard!

So I now have this five gallon bucket of lard sitting in my kitchen. As I look at it I can't help but remember the big 5 gallon bucket of lard that was sitting in my mom's kitchen when I was little. We lived in an old, PINK farm house. Has anyone else reading this lived in a PINK house? The kitchen was the main room of the house. From it there was a doorway leading to the living room, another leading to my brothers' bedroom, and yet another leading to the front porch. Also, there were two closed doors: one leading downstairs to the basement and the other leading upstairs where my sister and I slept. I very distinctly remember mom having a 5 gallon bucket of lard sitting in front of the basement door. Now that I'm older I've figured out that there were probably TWO reasons for mom having that bucket of lard sitting there. First, it was likely convenient just to have it sitting nearby to use in cooking. Secondly, it was a heavy barrier that kept us children from opening up the basement door! That thought had never crossed my mind until I sat looking at (and lifting!) my own bucket of lard.

Angie, do you remember mom's bucket of lard? I wonder if mom even remembers that bucket sitting there in the kitchen floor. I'm sure a bucket of rendered pig fat was insignificant in mom's mind.

I can't help but wonder, what objects in our family's home will my own daughter remember as an adult? What items do I consider insignificant that Sarah will look back on as a memorable part of her childhood?