5 August 2024

Time for Tuesday's thoughts and trivial things.

How did we ever survive? Lead piping, no refrigerator, no sell by/use by dates, asbestos, no seat belts, coal fires, no fat content warnings. No dishwashers or microwaves. "Solar" clothes dryers! 

We played outside all day; at the playground on DANGEROUS slides, rockets, swings, jungle gyms and monkey bars, and the MOST dangerous or all, the merry-go-rounds. No warning. No danger signs. We lived life on the edge! We played in the gutters and drank out of the hose. NO ONE had a water bottle. Our hands were too busy carrying treasured rocks or other things we would find. We puddle jumped! We rode in the back of pickup trucks! We rode bikes for miles and no one knew where we were. We "investigated" what was behind the "No Trespassing" signs of closed mines. We built forts out in the desert. We hunted for lizards, snakes, horned toads and salamanders. We climbed trees. We played with hula hoops and jump ropes, and played red-rover, tag and hide-n-seek. We played in the, dare we say it, DIRT!

We didn't EVER carry our phones with us, AND we had cool maps in the glove compartment! They were THE BEST! On trips we would track where we were and learn about all the different places. We used our brains. We weren't led around.

Life was simpler and expectations were realistic. People were kinder and grateful to be alive after two world wars. People were patriotic. They cared about their neighbors and neighborhoods. They respected themselves and others. They had manners and were polite. They worked hard. They weren't extravagant. They lived within their means.

All we have are memories now. GREAT memories of a different time. In many ways, a better time. Nevertheless, a time long ago, but not forgotten.