Stories, Past and Present

So you think this is Saturday??
Back home; it was the day to go to town for staples. Not the kind that hold pieces of paper together :)
Loaded the 50 gallon barrel for fuel, [gasoline - 19¢ a gallon] maybe sugar, Airway coffee for sure, and maybe a couple pieces of hardware. Father always stopped at Rexall Drug to get a handful of cashews, and some Licorice. Remember the sen sens? That was a breath refresher in a small box. We took several dozen eggs for an exchange, possibly dump the vegetable trimmings from the back room of the grocery store for the chickens. There were always some veggies & some fruit  that could be salvaged! I recall going to the dump [often] sometimes salvaged damaged boxes of  foods there.  Simple life, but it served us well. Oh, maybe a day to get a hair cut on top of the house if not on the porch, if it was too cold, then inside. Generally it was baking day, Mother set the sponge and off we went, "have to be back in an hour or so", she said. As I view the weather back home, on the tele, 35 below and 18 for the highs, reminds me of the article in THE ALAMOSA DAILY COURIER, January 28, 1948 Alamosa Temperatures Hits 50 Below Some captions read; Bureau says, "City Nation's Coldest Spot." Mercurial thermometers froze at -50 degrees. Some rural areas registered -52 degrees, on alcohol thermometers. Other captions depicted, "it was the coldest spot in the world", even  Anchorage, Alaska, where it was -34. "Some schools close." While City schools and Adams State College continued to have classes. As a nine year old, I remember it vividly!!! A Wednesday, no school, and Mr. Farnsworth couldn't deliver any mail. A reprieve for my Mother. She was the Janitor, [not custodian] she walked to build the fires in the morning & cleaned after sessions, for the three room school house. That included wash all blackboards once a week. I got a quarter a week allowance to help her.
    Kids today would shutter to even think of days like that!! They would rather sit at home with their X-boxes and iPads. Schools today close with way less snow and temps like that. That was the day when we walked ½ mile to school, for 8 hours of classes. We walked home for lunch and other kids packed theirs. We had outside privy's. I don't remember the date, when we had 48" of snow, Father hitched up ole Nelly [our burrow] to a motar box to take us to school. And all the kids graduated with honors! What has happened to our Society??? Men were MEN and women were LADIES, and often worked right alongside of the men with duties of the farm. Boys learned to be MEN and Girls learned to be Ladies! My Mother often wore a dress [homemade from flour sacks] to town and wore overalls to do chores. We packed in water from the well, in a bucket. Used the two hole privy out by the barn yard. No electricy, no phone. The wood burning cook stove helped heat the house & made wonderful meals. I realize I have softened with the modern culture too. Republicans were honored as Republicans and Democrats were honored as Democrats! So many things have changed. It would be refreshing to GO BACK, to the good old days, if for just for a moment? That does mean to leave everything behind, but for VALUE sake, let's give it a try! Richer, healthier, & emotionally stable. I'd like to hear your story............................
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