| A Word Edgewise by Mary Joe Clendenin |
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| A Word Edgewise by Mary Joe Clendenin |
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WANT FREE TIME? MAKE SOME CHOICES
Times--they are a-changin'. I heard a young fellow the other day say that he would like to go back to some of the old ways. He thought that the things he had would mean more because he would know the worth of money and work. I pointed out his freshly done shirt and asked if he would appreciate it more had it been washed on a rub board, starched with hot liquid, hung on a line to dry, sprinkled, ironed with a flat iron heated on a wood stove--and he said, "Yes." I should have pointed out that he would have to get up at least an hour and a half earlier each morning to get to work on time without labor saving devices.
Some things are just fading into antiquity--and I can't say I'm sorry.
My friend and ever practicing good Samaritan, Atha Dedman, was helping a neighbor peel peaches for freezing last week--not canning, gratefully. She was telling me how many packages they prepared. I thought, I'll bet not many young ladies can peel peaches. My daughter chops vegetables and fruits on a chopping board, and I've seen her attempt to peel fruit by holding it on the board and using all downward strokes. That's not the way to peel. She can use a potato peeler. But, I'm not sorry she doesn't have to peel and can as we did years ago. Peeling the first few peaches wasn't so bad, especially when they were so good I could eat a slice off each one--before the juice started dripping off my elbows. Peeling and canning, with a hot stove and bubbling hot water, without air conditioning got to be real work even to this young person--certainly doesn't sound nostalgic to this old person.
Yuck! I can just see the look most young women of today would have if they had to raise fryers and prepare them for the freezer. We ordered three dozen or so baby chicks in February or March, through the mail, for future chicken dinners. Sometimes, we'd order roosters--how do they determine the sex of day old chickens? I know how mother did. She had a little bob on the end of a string that she held over the chick--or kitten--or whatever. If it began to sway in a circle, the infant was female. If it swung back and forth, it was male. She had a good batting average--right more times than wrong.
Anyway, the first two or three weeks we kept those chicks in the house. We picked a corner, boxed it in with cardboard boxes, spread several layers of newspaper on the floor, used a light bulb for heat (we did have electricity when Ray and I set up housekeeping) and listened to contented chirps twenty-four hours a-day. The chirps were not nearly so bad as the smell--in a two room house. Off to a good start, the chicks then were put outside when it warmed up. At the proper time, we wrung the necks, skinned and dressed them for the freezer. Usually a neighbor and I worked together on that task.
Pea-picking time--my little pea-picking heart wasn't really into it, though I took pride in looking at the rows of canned food and well stocked freezer prepared for the family. That was the way things were.
We ate well, and we appreciated the food, knew what work went into the growing and preparing. But want to go back to when each family had to prepare ALL of their own food? No way. I appreciate going to the store and getting things ready prepared. No iron clothes that wash and dry in the machines are the labels I look for.
Time saving! But what do we do with the time we save? That is the question. Seems people have less time now than ever. My answer is that we are so intrigued with owning things, that we spend hours as slaves to material possessions. Get a boat, a new car, all the audio and video speakers and viewers and entertainers, easy chairs, recliners, lawn chairs, all the gadgets for the kitchen, clothes to change three times a day and wash after one wearing, huge thirsty bath towels to use once and wash, walking shoes, running shoes, playing shoes, sandals, Sunday shoes, dancing shoes, sitting shoes--and closets big enough to hold all--takes a huge house to go around all the closets and appliances. Then there's the yard and the car and mower, and the edger, and the mulcher, and the fertilizer, and the ----
You get the idea. Everyone wishes they had a little free time, that life would just slow down. Well, we have to make choices--my choices don't include going back to the old ways of doing things. I just want to shed a little junk--maybe that's why so many garage sales happen!