Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Reflections
So I was just sitting here thinking about turning another year older today, and remembering childhood and comparing mine to my own children....
When I was young, my folks moved my grandma into the house across the street from us to help take care of her and give her an easier life-Grandma had been living in a small town a couple hours away in a house which had an outhouse, a wood stove for heat and water that came from the community well. And it wasn't that she was the only one still living like that, far from it. Then on weekends my family would go to a relative's farm a half hour out of town. Dad would help in season with chores, like stacking bales, which were much smaller than the big round bales so prevelant now. I would run wild with my cousins, and it was there I learned how to shoot, milk a cow, and ride a manure sledge hauled by horses out to shovel off, among other things. If we got too tired of the outside, we could always listen in on the party line telephone to what was going on in the neighbourhood. Talk about instant communication-the internet had nothing on a partyline.
Now I look at my girls and notice very little "roughing it" as a regular thing. Even the type of campgrounds we stay at have full services and showers - no outhouses. A fire is an evening treat when camping, not a way to heat the house, so no cold mornings getting the stove going and running back to hide under the covers until the place began to warm up. My girls have never known life without a computer. As for music, well, a reference to LPs was confusing until I explained about vinyl records.
What will it be like for them when they reach my age and begin to look back at what has changed over time? When I attended business college, we still had a section on punch cards - a great labour saving device "do not fold, staple or mutilate". Now business college teaches high tech office machines that are only becoming more intricate all the time.
Oh well. Time flies and fruit flies love a banana, I suppose. Tonight the kids are buying and bringing supper home, so I am not cooking (bet it will be chinese, as they know how much I love egg rolls). So time to get back to the future and stop remembering the past.
When I was young, my folks moved my grandma into the house across the street from us to help take care of her and give her an easier life-Grandma had been living in a small town a couple hours away in a house which had an outhouse, a wood stove for heat and water that came from the community well. And it wasn't that she was the only one still living like that, far from it. Then on weekends my family would go to a relative's farm a half hour out of town. Dad would help in season with chores, like stacking bales, which were much smaller than the big round bales so prevelant now. I would run wild with my cousins, and it was there I learned how to shoot, milk a cow, and ride a manure sledge hauled by horses out to shovel off, among other things. If we got too tired of the outside, we could always listen in on the party line telephone to what was going on in the neighbourhood. Talk about instant communication-the internet had nothing on a partyline.
Now I look at my girls and notice very little "roughing it" as a regular thing. Even the type of campgrounds we stay at have full services and showers - no outhouses. A fire is an evening treat when camping, not a way to heat the house, so no cold mornings getting the stove going and running back to hide under the covers until the place began to warm up. My girls have never known life without a computer. As for music, well, a reference to LPs was confusing until I explained about vinyl records.
What will it be like for them when they reach my age and begin to look back at what has changed over time? When I attended business college, we still had a section on punch cards - a great labour saving device "do not fold, staple or mutilate". Now business college teaches high tech office machines that are only becoming more intricate all the time.
Oh well. Time flies and fruit flies love a banana, I suppose. Tonight the kids are buying and bringing supper home, so I am not cooking (bet it will be chinese, as they know how much I love egg rolls). So time to get back to the future and stop remembering the past.
# posted by Surveysez @ 11:18 AM 
Comments:
<< Home
OMH, you two are old *snicker*
Happy Birthday Sez!!! *smoooooch*
I remember tv's without remote controls. And dial phones. Kids have it easy today LOL.
Happy Birthday Sez!!! *smoooooch*
I remember tv's without remote controls. And dial phones. Kids have it easy today LOL.
That was the late sixtys when grandma was living like that, Nookie. Small rural communities in northern Manitoba were woefully behind.
And what if I am old? Some vintages just get better with age.
And what if I am old? Some vintages just get better with age.
The perks of getting older:
1. Kidnappers are not very interested in you.
2. In a hostage situation you are likely to be released.
3. No one expects you to run -- anywhere.
4. People call at 9 PM and ask, "Did I wake you?"
5. People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.
6. There is nothing left to learn the hard way.
7. Things you buy now won't wear out.
8. You can eat dinner at 4 P.M.
9. You can live without sex but not without your glasses.
10. You enjoy hearing about other people's operations.
11. You get into heated arguments about pension plans.
12. You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.
13. You quit trying to hold your stomach in, no matter who walks into the room.
14. You sing along with elevator music.
15. Your eyes won't get much worse.
16. Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.
1. Kidnappers are not very interested in you.
2. In a hostage situation you are likely to be released.
3. No one expects you to run -- anywhere.
4. People call at 9 PM and ask, "Did I wake you?"
5. People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.
6. There is nothing left to learn the hard way.
7. Things you buy now won't wear out.
8. You can eat dinner at 4 P.M.
9. You can live without sex but not without your glasses.
10. You enjoy hearing about other people's operations.
11. You get into heated arguments about pension plans.
12. You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.
13. You quit trying to hold your stomach in, no matter who walks into the room.
14. You sing along with elevator music.
15. Your eyes won't get much worse.
16. Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.
Happy Birthday, Sez! I'll add more tomorrow - Tom just blew in from his second job so I'm going to hang with him for a while now.
Swami <---remembers some old stuff too.
Swami <---remembers some old stuff too.
Happy, happy birthday, Sez!
One set of my grandparents heated by woodstove. My parents use the fireplace for the majority of their heat.
I have used an outhouse - when we would go pick strawberries, it was either use the outhouse, or find a tree or large bush (and hope there was no poison ivy or oak!).
One set of my grandparents heated by woodstove. My parents use the fireplace for the majority of their heat.
I have used an outhouse - when we would go pick strawberries, it was either use the outhouse, or find a tree or large bush (and hope there was no poison ivy or oak!).
My sister was potty-trained in an outhouse (a fact that she seems to want to remind me of all the time).
Happy Birthday!!!!!!
Happy Birthday!!!!!!
I vaguely remember my mom being flabbergasted to find that a party-line was out only option for a telephone when we moved to rural Southern Ontario in the 1950. I don't remember the move but I remember being told to NOT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT FAMILY when I finally had a friend to call. Our phone number was 948, lol. There were operators who'd say "Does your mom know you're using the telephone!?!"
My first summer camp had outhouses instead of bathrooms. I was traumatized because they had 3-hole outhouses. One door, three holes in the bench so you were required to sit beside someone while doing your thing. Too wierd.
My first summer camp had outhouses instead of bathrooms. I was traumatized because they had 3-hole outhouses. One door, three holes in the bench so you were required to sit beside someone while doing your thing. Too wierd.
Happy Birthday Survey!
My parents still have a party line at their cottage. I always feel guilty letting it ring more than 3 times when I call them because I'm making the phone ring in a number of places.
Remember the push button boxes with a cord running to the tv to change the channel?
When I started working we still used the old dial up telex machine. I must be a dinasaur.
Mmmmmm, egg rolls!
My parents still have a party line at their cottage. I always feel guilty letting it ring more than 3 times when I call them because I'm making the phone ring in a number of places.
Remember the push button boxes with a cord running to the tv to change the channel?
When I started working we still used the old dial up telex machine. I must be a dinasaur.
Mmmmmm, egg rolls!
Happy Belated Birthday Sez!
My aunt and uncle had a cottage up in Muskoka that was heated with a wood stove. They had an outhouse, too. I remember Mom telling us we'd better pee before bed because it would be pretty dangerous trying to get to the outhouse in the dark in the middle of the nights. Besides, there might be skunks. LOL
My aunt and uncle had a cottage up in Muskoka that was heated with a wood stove. They had an outhouse, too. I remember Mom telling us we'd better pee before bed because it would be pretty dangerous trying to get to the outhouse in the dark in the middle of the nights. Besides, there might be skunks. LOL
Happy Belated Birthday, Sez!
I often waffle (mmm, waffles) between resenting the conveniences kids have today and wishing they'd do more, to understanding the reliance on conveniences. It's like my issue with (for example), using plastic silverware at work. I should really be using regular utensils and washing them at lunch, but plastic is so darn convenient.
Post a Comment
I often waffle (mmm, waffles) between resenting the conveniences kids have today and wishing they'd do more, to understanding the reliance on conveniences. It's like my issue with (for example), using plastic silverware at work. I should really be using regular utensils and washing them at lunch, but plastic is so darn convenient.
<< Home
