I had several responses to my column about looking back. Most people appreciate the memories, but wouldn’t want to go back to living without the modern technology we’ve become accustomed to. One exception to that is my old army buddy, Kenny Lee, who lives out in California.
Big Lee wrote: “Doc, I’m sorry but I ‘Would’ like to go back in time. Nancy told me one time, ‘you’d miss what you have now.’ I told her I wouldn’t have all the things I have now, so I couldn’t miss what I didn’t have. I do miss the tight families, and simple, uncomplicated times. I miss not being able to go anywhere and not get a dang phone call. I miss going for a walk and not being afraid of getting my butt shot off. Doc, think back, we sat down and took the TIME to see what was happening around us; like kids playing touch football on the school playground, walking a girlfriend down the street in the evening. I can go on and on, Doc. Technology has made us, for the most part, lazy, and slower to use our imagination. Yes, I would like to go back to a more uncomplicated life. I think technology has cost us more than it has helped us. I just HAD to TAKE THE TIME to tell someone how ‘I’ felt about the good old days. Thank you, my brother, for being there to listen.”
Big Lee brought up some interesting points. They are some of the same things I was thinking about this Christmas season.
He mentioned tight families. That was also on my mind. I can look out the windows of our home and see the farms where most of my aunts and uncles and grandparents lived. Not that many years ago, that was the norm instead of the exception. Extended families lived close together. Birthdays and holidays were always family get-togethers. The only ones on my mother’s side who couldn’t be at every event were my uncle and aunt and their family who lived in Indianapolis, Indiana. All the rest of us “Hanson Cousins” grew up together near Westby. We’re still close even though we’re scattered to the four winds these days.
Now we find families all over the country. Few families live on adjacent farms any more. It makes it much harder for even immediate families to get together for holidays. Yes, times have changed. Because of the mobility we have these days, I think we’ll see families grow even farther apart, to the point where cousins won’t even know each other. That’s a far cry from when we Hanson Cousins grew up together. Christmas Day was always spent at Grandma and Grandpa Hanson’s home. I can still see that farm, across the fields from our back windows. I have many good memories from those days. Just like Big Lee, I’m thankful I grew up in the time period I did.
Another point Big Lee makes is that we used our imagination. I was thinking about that too. I guess Big Lee and I think alike in many ways. Lets consider radio as opposed to television. We had to use our imagination and visualize the action and what the characters looked like. I guess that’s why I still like listening to Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. When we visit Lake Wobegon, each of us has our own idea of what it and the characters that inhabit that fictional area look like.
Our kids used their imaginations when they were young. During Christmas, we were all looking at old photos. One of them had the kids sitting in empty boxes that they’d lined up and were pretending they were on a train. That’s using your imagination. I suspect they got just as much enjoyment out of playing in those old boxes as the presents they received. How many of you can relate to a similar experience?
When we were young, David and I probably had as much fun playing with the tobacco lath toys we made as we did with store-bought toys. We also did a lot of climbing and playing in trees, an activity that is frowned upon today as being too dangerous. So much has changed.
My friend, Lowell from Madison, reminded me of several other things from our past that are no more. He said, “Mother always bragged about the fact that we had running water. We ran out to get it and we ran out to throw it away.” I liked that saying. They didn’t have a refrigerator when he was young. When they sat down to have coffee, someone had to go out to the well and pull up the bucket that had all the perishables in it. He also mentioned how hard it was to get water for the cows in the winter. Sometimes it would freeze in the barn. I remember those days too in our old barn, especially the time a door had blown open and even the manure was frozen in the gutters. Not a good way to start the day!
Somehow we all lived through those days, and I think we’re better and tougher because of them. Thank you, Big Lee, for taking the time to tell what you were feeling. It gives us all something to think about.
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