senior scribes
text

Senior Scribes
Just a Thought
By Sharon Hopper

I have been thinking again. Wow that can lead to some trouble. Wonder what people did in the old days to keep ahead of the weather we are having January 6 2014. They could not just listen to the weather forcast and run to the grocery store for bread and milk and a few comfort foods. They certainly did not have electric and just turn on a switch and it would get warm in the house. And the roads were not opened within hours of a snowstorm or plowed drifting snow with the big plows we have today. How often do we ever think of the advantages we have today versus our grandparents. I am talking a mere 50 to 70 years ago.

Oh my goodness, that is in my life time. Lets see my grandparents lived in Mansfield, Ohio in a more progressive part of the city. They had a potbelly stove in the living room and a wood-burning cookstove in the kitchen and an ice chest for keep food cool. There was a pile of coal by the garage to feed the pot belly stove in the living room and of course a wood pile to feed the cook stove. Except for the mornings the house was pretty warm and of course if you were chilled you could always cuddle up to a stove. We lived out in the country and we had about the same thing except my mother had an electric cooking range. A Montgomery Ward I believe. Boy! That brings back lots of memories. The salt trucks were much smaller and so were the plow trucks. When it snowed a lot we were really stuck at home. And if you wanted to eat you probably had to cook. Homemade soup, chili, potato soup…mmmmgood . I do remember being a bit cold and my mother always said put on a sweater and some long johns. Yep…we had those.

Anyway it is cold. No it is past cold. It is freezing outside. Today we have better electric service, far better plows and salt trucks, and television to keep reminding us of how cold it is outside. I know it got cold in the “old days” but I really do not think we made such a fuss about it. We just lived with it. We played games, did our work, and dressed real warm and went about the business of the day. This so far has been a difficult winter, but not as bad as everyone has made out. Of course the kids will probably go to school till July. My goodness we have gotten soft. I remember the blizzard of 78. My kids played outside all day long. We shoveled lots of snow by hand withhold fashioned snow shoverls, and guess what? We are still here and looking forward to summer so we can join the throngs and complain about the 90+degree weather. Aren’t we a funny people?



  <
senior scribes
senior scribes
County News Online

is a Fundraiser for the Senior Scribes Scholarship Committee. All net profits go into a fund for Darke County Senior Scholarships
contact
Copyright © 2011 and design by cigs.kometweb.com