Simpler Times
I just recently lost my brother Bob. I was his kid sister, even in our advanced ages. His passing has made me think of our younger years and simpler times. We grew up in a small town in Kansas, population around 600. We were free to roam all over town and we did. We even played hide and seek with the neighborhood kids after dark. We had a front porch with a swing and a large Maple tree for climbing. In the spring and summer, we had garden and yard chores. We cut a small yard of grass with a push mower. Year round we had chickens to feed, eggs to gather. We hung clothes on lines outside to dry unless it was too cold and then we hung then on the enclosed back porch. We didn’t eat meat everyday but, we did have a big family dinner on Sundays which usually consisted of chicken, mashed potatoes, a vegetable, homemade bread and pie or cake for desert. Soda pop was a seldom treat as was ice cream or candy. Paper towels were not used, nor were kleenix. It was cloth towels, with dishes air dried in racks and hankies that were washed and ironed. Fresh sheets and towels were put out once a week. If we needed something that our small town couldn’t provide, we took the train in the morning to a larger town nearby and returned home on the train that evening. During the war years, (WW11) we didn’t own a car. Any necessary trips were made by bus or train. After the war we purchased a car when they became available. We now drove the 5 blocks to church on Sunday instead of walking. The mid to late 50’s seem to usher in a new age, bigger cars, bigger and better highways. More discretionary income, more people taking vacations, buying more clothes, more convient washing machines so that we could wash more clothes more often. More modern homes (without front porches), further out from the towns and cities, so walking became a thing of the past and we drove every where. Familys scattered. My brother joined the CB’s ( a branch of the Navy) and was stationed in California. He married a local beauty and after his discharge remained in California. My older sister and her husband moved to Colorado. Another sister and her husband took up farming some fifty miles from home. My older brother who served in WW11 stayed for a while and worked the parts department for the local auto dealer before moving about 100 miles from home. I went off to Colorado after college, married and moved back east. By the 60’s, our family was spread all over the country, necessitating driving or flying back and forth for family reunions. Life was no longer simple. By the 70’s women became major players in the work force, creating the need for easier to prepare meals as well as more meals out. The two pay check family often meant two cars. And so on and on it went and away went the simpler life. Can we return to those times? No, time marches on and with that comes change. Can we live a simpler life in these times? Yes. We just have to pattern it to fit todays world. We can learn to recycle more than plastic, paper and glass. We can demand less packaging. We can car pool and organize our errands so that we make one trip instead of 10. We can when practical, learn to use the power of nature. Here in Arizona today on our back patio the temperature has hit 118. This is probably hotter than normal by at least 5 degrees. Think about what 5 degrees a year could mean to our environment. Also, even though we have all of this sunshine and heat, we cannot have clothes lines. This may need to change. If we want to keep the beauty of our world, then we may need to change our attitude about laundry drying on a line. Perhaps it is in the simple small changes that we can make that we will tame global warming.
I dedicate these thoughts to you Bob. Thanks for being my big brother.