You know how sometimes in your email you get those that talk about what one misses about the good old days. Well, here are a few things I don't miss about the so-called "good old days".
I don't miss having to go down that little path to that little building at the end of that little path every time nature called.
I don't miss bringing in buckets of water from the pump outside and setting them on a shelf on the back porch; then having to break the ice the next morning to wash your face and hands.
I don't miss having to stand by the heater in the kitchen to take a sponge bath, because that was the only room in the house that was warm.
I don't miss trying to sleep at night in the summer with the windows open hoping to feel a little breeze now and then.
I don't miss having to walk every where I went, because we didn't have any other way of getting there, although I should probably be walking more now.
I don't miss having to get up at 3 or 4 AM to take cured tobacco out of the barn so we could hang green tobacco in there again after we worked all day.
Now, I will tell you what I do miss about the good old days.
I miss movies that I could pay my way in plus buy popcorn and a drink with one quarter.
I miss being able to sit and watch a movie in a theater without feeling embarrassed because of the language, nudity and sex scenes, which is why I go to so few movies now.
I miss being able to go to bed without wondering if I would wake to someone in my house trying to harm me.
I miss when all the kids in our neighborhood gathered in the late afternoon to play softball in the middle of the street, and how we would all run home when we heard our Mothers calling or Daddies whistling.
I miss my Grandmother giving me a dime to go to the little store around the corner to buy her a Pepsi and a popsicle for me.
These are just a few things I think about sometimes. I know I will think of some others, but that is enough. I don't really want to go back, but life was much simpler in the "good old days". Then again, we had to work much harder for what we had. Hmmm, maybe that was why we appreciated things so much!?
Euris
There is one thing I truly despise and it is being cold. Your description of taking a sponge bath standing in front of a heater was enough to make me shiver!
In our neighborhood there is a street that runs down beside our house. It seems to be the street that has all of the neighborhood kids on it. My son will go down there on a weekend morning. They build forts, play football, look for arrowheads along the creekbed. He will come home at lunch to check in and to grab a bite to eat. Our rule is when the streetlights come on, time to come in.
He comes home filthy and covered with dirt, but he sleeps well at night! It reminds me of when I was a young child. We would stay outside all day long playing. Some things remain the same.
Michelle