Tag Archives: days

Good Old Days

Have you seen something new on the television, the internet or in a store and said to yourself ‘I’m getting old’? Have you ever daydreamed about the things that went on during your childhood, looked around yourself and thought how old you are? Well, I also look at it another way. I look at the name of something or what it is called and say to myself ‘in my day it was called…it’s exactly the same thing’.

Many things are not different from the olden days. It is only named differently or packaged differently or made to look different. I imagine you are asking, why? Simple. To peak interest in something being new therefore you will purchase it. The thinking is that newer is better therefore, make the consumer think the product is new. To pass the test that the product is new, they add a little additional ingredient, that really does nothing to change the product (or does it?), then call it new, passing the test of calling it ‘new’.

In my day natural items were used to combat ailments or for cleaning or just about everything. Actually, natural is cheaper and sometimes better. A across the counter laxative will cost much more than some prunes or prune juice. There was oatmeal, Oxtagon soap that was used for, not only washing clothes but treating poison ivy and other rashes. The list can go on and on and I doubt I can think of all the items that fall into this category.

I feel old in so many other ways. I used to want to always be partying or be around the gang. There was always something alcoholic to drink. There was loud music everywhere I went. Now, I am content to sit on the porch and watch people and traffic go by. I go one or two weeks without a drink. I really love quietness. I remember my military K-9 days, which was very solitary, and I still love that. Now I know I am old.

Have you ever heard the first bars of music and immediately knew the song? I bet you remembered when the first time was you heard the song, where you were, who you were with and what you were doing (probably the conversations that took place). I’m not talking about this new stuff. I am talking about the oldie-but-goodie of years gone by. Yeah, we are all getting old. But there is nothing wrong with that because we are still alive, mobile and can remember it all. We can smile and recall it all. We sit around with our friends and talk about the old days.

There is nothing wrong with getting old because it is something we all must do, like one day we all must die. All I am saying here is that old is good and new may not be better because it may be a new brand of old, including the music. Thinking about new music, I have listened to new music and it will have the sound of an oldie-but-goodie with different lyrics. One day the young people today will do the same thing we are doing. They will look back and say ‘those were some good old days’.

 

Days Of Yore

I love this time of year, I hate this time of year. What do I love about this time of year, you ask? I love the festiveness, love of the birth of Christ, the giving, the hibernation of plant life that is awaiting rebirth in three or four months. This is the time that others are seen giving when, actually, it should be done all year ‘round. I love looking at the outdoor decorations, the extreme people have gone to outdo others and wonder how much is spent to do it. I love to watch the joy on the faces of small children as they see the toys, Santa and colorful lights. I love it all and remember my times at that age.

I hate this time of year because it reminds me of my age, of time gone by and of all the well-intentioned money spent on unnecessary things. Bah-humbug? No, just being my practical self. Although this blog comes out at Christmas, I am reminded that at the birth of Christ He did not have much. I hate all the scammers and robbers out there. I hate all the organizations with their hands out, getting plenty of cash so their company officers can get richer. This time of year is a love/hate thing for me.

I long for what is in my memory. A simple life, a simpler time. Smelling the wood fires. These were not just fireplaces, I never knew any family that had one, but wood and coal fires were used for heating and cooking. It was a necessity during my upbringing. I long for looking at the snow-covered houses with smoke curling out the chimney, looking like a picture transformed from a Christmas card. I long for walking into the house, smelling the fire and food slowly cooking on the stovetop. I remember those days, I long for those days and will forever cherish them.

Everyone went to church and it was always more festive during winter. The congregation not only worked together to make Christmas more festive, but they all focused on the upcoming New Year Watch Night and Easter. All festive events were planned many months in advance and everyone pitched in. Church was the starting point as well as the ending for everyone (your baptismal and your funeral).             The entire family went to church and, along with the other families, the entire church was family which made everyone a relative.

Today, young people may have heard about this, but they cannot completely grasp the idea of an era like this. Each succeeding era have a time like this with each era getting more modernized than the previous. Today, young people do not have the time to see the lights, go places that they may smell the chimney smoke, go to church or, if they go to church, work together for months for some far away event in the church. There are many young people that can not cook, have parents that do cook and have never seen a wood burning stove or food cooked on one.

The young people have their phones and tablets, but they cannot smell those by-gone things from long ago through them. They can Google the past but will never experience it. They will never stand in the snow or cold wind and hear nothing but the sound of that wind or see the lights twinkling. The lights were not made that way, but the natural atmosphere make them twinkle, everything is serene. I guess I am old, longing for things that will never be again, but I will never forget them and will forever cherish them.