My Country Kin Were Modern

In this day and age of "new technology" and all the terms like Going Green, Recycling, Alternative Energy and the like...I think that now is the perfect time for me to remind everyone that most of our ancestors were doing all of these things long before it was the "proper" thing to do! Let me give you a few examples of what I mean, OK?

Solar Power? I remember my Mother, her Mother, and most of my country cousins using solar power to do things like dry the clothes (can you say clothesline?), heat water for the baths(a tub in the yard), and starting plants in the Winter for the garden (How about setting seedlings on the window sill?).

Growing Organically? As far back as I can remember, none of my country kin ever used chemicals or plant food on the garden or flower beds! Fertilizer came from the milk cows and the chickens. Used hay from the horse stalls and the hen house were used instead of man-made mulch. Eggs were used straight from the nest, vegetables were served straight from the garden, meat was home grown and butchered on the farm, without steroids.

Wind Power? Windmills have been pumping water without the use of electricity on farms for nearly a century. Open windows were cooling farm houses long before the availability of air conditioning, cold days and nights were taken care of by long johns, fire places, and home made quilts!

Bread came from the oven, not the store, as well as milk and butter. There was even a hand cranked phonograph at my Uncle Bill's old house. Rain water was harvested, food scraps were fed to the hogs, feed sacks were saved and turned into hand towels, clothing, and other usable items. Crops were rotated because of common sense, not some instructions in a book.

Little or nothing was wasted or thrown away,everything that could be saved or salvaged was...and was reused again for something new. A different mind-set, a different time. Family looked after family, neighbor helped neighbor. The land was cared for, not raped for the resources. In turn, the Land gave back to us, helping us to get by, feed ourselves, raise our animals. It was a good exchange, a good relationship, a partnership if you will.

That's the way things were and the way they should be again. With a little common sense, they will be, they will be!

Let's get some fresh coffee, OK?