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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?
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