Travel, Family history:
For today:
Since I
have been riding in cars all my life, it is hard to picture my dad and mama not
having a car, but a mule and wagon.
They never had a ‘buggy’ nor a horse. The Horse and Buggy were for the ‘folks up in
the papers’ was my mama’s term.
My folks were peanut share-croppers.
They had mules and went to town for their first few married years in a mule
drawn wagon. My oldest brother Odis born 1922 was the first of the young’uns to ride in a
Model T Ford. It was 1925 when dad bought an old used Model T.
Daddy & Mama 1924
They
had been in cars for about 14 years before I was born. The first car I remember
in our family was a 1941 Chevy 4 door.
That was during WWII.
Cars sure have changed lives completely. Some folks
today, mostly in cities, do not own an auto. Their transportation is trains,
busses, taxis and just walking.
Sherry’s mom and dad never owned a
car for any length of time on the mill hill, and they traveled by bus or
walked.
I am reminded of all this from all the Westerns I have read in the past year.
It is hard to think of not being able to call a Doctor. Someone had to ride a
horse or run to the doctor. Then the Dr.
had to harness his horse or mule and take his wagon to the ‘emergency.’
There again, it is hard to realize
mom and dad did not have a phone the first 20-25 years of their lives.
YEP we
take these changes without a thought of doing without them. UNTIL……… you are in the middle of a hurricane and
after, when your car is underwater, the roads are underwater and phone service
and electric are GONE.
Be
thankful if you have never been in a situation where NONE of our modern
advances were at your disposal. Remember
(if you pray, pray for them!) the unfortunate folks here in Florida who felt
the BRUNT of IAN. So far they have found
47 dead. Terrible.
Nite
Shipslog
PS:
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7 comments:
Praying for the people of Florida. We are incredibly blessed with the technology we have. Talking with people at work the other day, I still remember the days of no cell phones. You actually went out to dinner with your husband, leaving the kids at home with a babysitter, and said where you were going and hope that they didn't have to try to contact you. Perhaps life was simpler back then. I'm thinking it might have been :)
betty
Praying for all affected by the storm.
Another good post, Jack. Thank you. Yes ... we have so many modern conveniences these days that we do not fully appreciate.
God bless.
I'm thinking on account of what just happened (Ian), that many are rethinking our priorities. Another blogger recently wrote about her new hobby -- not dependent on the internet or even electricity. I'm like, "Oh come on, Myra ... it wasn't THAT long ago you lived without the web."
Perspective's a great tool, isn't it? Yesterday afternoon my son and I were talking about all the technological advances we've seen in our lives (he's only 52!) that now we mostly take for granted.
Prayers for Florida!
My son in Florida just got his power and internet back on this morning and we're very thankful for it. They were luckier than a lot of others there. I remember the early car days. Every one only had one, not 2 or 3 and we shared the use of that one car. before my mom learned to drive, my dad would take us everywhere, for groceries and to school. He was the only one who could drive a car. I remember sitting in the parking lot of the A& P waiting for my mom to come out. I also remember walking downtown and having to lug bags home on the bus. Then from the bus we still had to walk home. I definitely appreciate having my own car now and being able to go when I want to. And even though I do complain about the cold here, we don't ever get hurricanes. So we do have a lot to be thankful for !
My brother and sister-in-law live in Fort Myers and my nephew lives in Cape Coral. My brother's place only got some small damage with his pool area but my nephew lost half his house. Thankfully my Nephew had moved his family out of harms way and now it's the big clean up ahead. That's a lovely pic of your parents and frankly your Dad looks movie star handsome! I'm grateful for modern technology and my car! I would not make a good pioneer for the long haul! Take care Jack and Sherry
I have been watching Matt Dillion with my husband and am getting cowboy educated.
When you went through Atlanta and all that traffic - were you fleeing the hurricane?
Thanks for writing!
So many lost in the hurricane! No one can realize what destruction is unless they lived through storms like that. Praying is almost all we can do, except make donations to organizations like American Red Cross.
Sounds like your parents and my grandfathers farming life were a lot the same.
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