“Thanks grandma but I don’t think she’ll be needing those this summer.”
“Why not?”
“Well with the new baby and everything…”
“Oh, I canned with all four of mine.”
“Grandma, times have changed.”
“I understand, a polite way of saying, ‘No’”
“Thanks anyway grandma.”
As he recounted this conversation to me, I once again became fully aware of my rampant schizophrenic thought life:
“What was she thinking? Seriously, I’m already tired enough!”
“What was he thinking? I could can if I wanted to… I could – I have plenty to can.”
“Obviously, her children were not born in the middle of a Kansas summer… obviously she has forgotten what it is like.”
“Obviously, Jarod has no idea what I am capable of and he hasn’t been eyeing the plethora of apples and pears soon to freely fall into our hands.”
“Yes, times have changed – I don’t need to can – it isn’t even economically practical anymore.”
“So what if times have changed, Jarod – there is still produce to put up and mouths to feed – and it is my job to do that - so butt out and bring on the jars.”
Aaawww… sweet mental illness – sweet super markets. Times have changed but here is what I am wondering. Have we? I mean, could the most competent among us (that would be Sommer who raises 7 children and still manages to shave her legs every day) go back in time 50 years? Could we, if we had to, wash all our clothes, including newborn diapers, by hand while putting up enough food from the garden we tend to feed a family (not reduced in size by birth control) through a winter without reliable heat or transportation? Could I have been my grandmothers? If not, is anyone studying this downward adaptation to see if we are de-evolving ourselves? If I could be as competent as previous generations of women, why do I feel like one more child in disposable diapers – with a washing machine - is going to push me to my limit? Is it just completely true that God only give us as much as we can bear?
So the conversation within me continues:
“We should move 3rd world – see what we are really capable of – stop taking advantage of pre-made meals and electricity. We are responsible to help our children be better and stronger than us… we gotta get out of here!”
“I should see about getting cable TV and scour the internet for delectable bon-bons and leather sofas… if I am gonna de-evolve I should do it in style.”
We’ll see how the summer goes…
hey at least I can make my photos look vintage ... even if I couldn't be (Thanks for the tip Jessica - and everyone else really should try http://labs.wanokoto.jp/olds)
the awesome grasshopper mask Jude made at library accented by the frog galoshes handed down from cousin Laurel... thanks guys... now he's just a little bit weirder...
1 comment:
Short version:
You sound sooooo pregnant!!
Long version:
I think in some ways we are evolving and some ways de-volving and it's all a blessing and a curse at the same time. I don't think it's so black and white - whether or not it's all for better or all for worse. Our world is more complicated, that's for sure, and I think we can make individual choices to keep things as simple as possible. As Americans, so often, I think we have the luxury of choosing what we want to do the contemporary and usually convenient way or the old fashioned way and that's kind of nice. I am also determined to believe that if I HAD to do all that my great-grandmas or Amish relatives did then I could do it since it was part of my cultural expectation. I also don't want to do/ not do these kinds of things out of guilt since God has put me on this planet in this country at this time.
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