In the 70's Gary and I lived in a little community on a farm while he was in Law School. We shared a garden plot with several other tenants and I scrubbed our clothes on a scrub board, ran them through a wringer and hung them out to dry in our yard. We lived in a tiny little house out there and there were probably between 13 to 15 little houses on that farm. The farmer rented to students and set us all up with our garden plot, we all shared electricity by square footage, our water was part of the rent. Rent was $135.00 a month. I had our first child while we lived out there. I canned our vegetables and made my baby's baby food from scratch. I made my own bread, cooked everything from scratch - all the while I worked full-time and Gary went to school. I worked evenings and he went to school in the early part of the day so our daughter, Rachel, was at the babysitter usually 2 to 4 hours 3 days a week. I made everything my baby wore as well as just about everything I wore. I taught myself to knit and crochet and learned to make blankets. I made quilts for our beds. I never really thought about it being hard because I knew it was temporary. It was an adventure. It's what we needed to do to not take out student loans and get him through school. There was a light at the end of the tunnel.
Over the years, things have changed. I've acquired a lot of "stuff". While we were on this trip to Arizona I realized just how much waste we produce so I think it's time to try and start getting back to some of those basics. I'm never going to wash clothes on a scrub board again, although I miss the smell of sheets dried on a clothesline that too is something I don't think is in my future unless we move out of the city. My backyard is too shaded to have a vegetable garden so I'll not be able to grow and put away my own vegetables but I could start cooking again more often. We eat out way too much. Cooking from scratch is actually enjoyable although it's more convenient to open a box, can or order in - it really isn't as satisfying or as healthy. Paper napkins, paper towels, paper plates ... when did this happen? When did this become the norm? I have beautiful dishes, perfectly good cloth napkins and a great washer and dryer to clean them with and lots of kitchen towels and cleaning cloths to replace the paper towels. Those have to go. Perhaps to be put away for things like picnics but for everyday I believe we need to use dishes, cloth napkins and kitchen towels.
I'm not suggesting we go back to a time when women were slaves to the home, their husbands, family and life ... these are modern time and I'm a firm believer in everything equal. But I do think we all need to do our part in making our world a better place to live. If we cut out plastic bottles, paper products (less trees cut down ... more air to breathe), eat healthier and part of that healthy eating is sitting at a table and having a conversation with your family. Taking the time to catch up, enjoying each other's company. This is important. Family is important and should be first in your life, more important than whatever show is coming on TV. When my kids were growing up we had all our meals at the dining room table together. Breakfast every morning before school and in the summer we would sometimes take our lunch outside and have picnics in the backyard and tell stories that we would make up as we ate our lunch. Meals were enjoyable. I remember a lot of light teasing, laughter and fun at the dinner table as well as manners taught and politeness. Now the only time we eat at the dining room table is on Sundays. So, I've let that slip as well. We usually take our meals on TV trays in the living room watching TV, very little conversation. It will be up to me to change things again and I will. Gary and I used to have dinner out in the sun room in the evenings when the weather allowed so we could enjoy the sunsets. We've gotten lazy. Sometimes modern conveniences become crutches instead of helping us they enable us to become lazy and complacent instead of moving forward. There is nothing wrong with being happy, being content but we can't stand still and let life pass us by either. We should always be moving forward, always.
No comments:
Post a Comment