Sunday, September 23, 2012

The Best of Both Worlds

I always thought I was born 100 years too late. As a little girl I would dream of doing homework by the light from a oil lamp while dad sat warming his feet by the fire and mother baking bread in the wood cookstove. I dreamed of using a wash board helping mother scrub clothes and hanging them out on a line to dry. Of going to the well and carrying water to the house and animals. Later in life I dreamed of doing all these things as a wife and mom and later still with grandchildren. I guess as you get older you really do get wiser. A light bulb moment happened and I suddenly realized I am actually living my dream but with added bonuses. We have over a dozen oil lamps around the house. I enjoy winter nights with some of them lighting up our home in a warm cozy glow. I love sitting and reading by the light from my favorite oil lamp.

 We heat our home with a wood stove. Coming in from the cold and feeling the warmth from the stove and the wonderful smell of the different woods burning is a dream come true. I also love keeping the tea kettle simmering on top of the stove for cups of tea whenever the urge arrives. We haven't set up our wood  cookstove yet but keeping a pot of homemade soup or pinto beans cooking on the back of the wood stove all day makes for some very, very, good meals. I am blessed with washtubs, wooden scrub board, and a hand crank wringer

. I can do laundry anytime I wish this way and hang them out on the lines to dry. I have the best of both worlds. I can choose to do things the simple hard way of my ancestors which I really do enjoy or I can do the easy, fast way by flipping a light switch, turning on the electric stove, throwing clothes in my nice front loader washer before tossing them in the dryer. I can watch a movie, enjoy the computer, take a nice hot shower, flush the toilet and still have mostly the simple hardworking life I dreamed. I wasn't born 100 years too late. I was born at the right time for me. A time where I can have the best of both worlds. I am truly blessed!


6 comments:

Mike said...

I often like to daydream of earlier times. Living in the wilderness. Hiding from indians protecting my scalp. I can still do that if I go to Roberson County. lol

..and now, I will put a pot of bean on. Thanks for the reminder.

TexWisGirl said...

what a great post. yes, i'd have to agree with you that you've found your perfect time and way. :)

Kelly said...

Peggy, you hit the nail on the head. We do these things because we get great satisfaction from doing them. It feels so good to have this way of life because we want it. Nothing heats a home or heart like a wood stove with wood we brought in cut and stacked for the winter. We did it ourselves. It didn't come from a foreign country. American hard wood. Yes!

Mum said...

What an excellent way to look at the world. We are so blessed. I long to live in a simpler way too, and yet I am so grateful for the technologies we have that offer such an abundance of access to communication and information. I must say, while I hand washed all our clothes when we first were married, and with our first daughter and all the cloth nappies/ diapers... I am so so thankful for my washing machine. We had to work hard and save up and it is worth every penny. Perhaps, I appreciate it more because of the journey and for that too I am thankful.

Thank you too for this post, because today, I think I needed reminding to be grateful

Sarah said...

What a wonderful way to look at things! I've often felt that I may have been born at the wrong time but I like your theory much better! I think as a whole the world has gotten so used to the instant gratification and conviences but I wonder if that's the best thing for mankind. I think those who learn the value of a simple life will probably be so much happier in the long run. I'm not saying that you have to forsake all conviences but you don't have to live and die by them either. Wonderful post!

Swamp Dog said...

That is a wonderful post. I can do a lot of things the old way just to know I can, but it sure is nice to have electricity and indoor plumbing!