About the Green Thing

NOTE: I just had to laugh when I read this blog. I am not sure if it has been posted before now but wow, Mrs. Crumly told it like it is. Bet that poor o’l boy wished he had never opened his mouth. I love this post and have sit with her many times and we talked about things just like this. Sure do miss that lady…….

There’s all this talk about green – everywhere we go that seems to be the topic of the conversation.  I was in a group the other day where this was being discussed and one young whippersnapper told me my generation had not taken care enough to save our environment!  I quickly responded, “No we didn’t have the green thing back in my day.”

Back then we milked our own cow and used the containers over and then later when we moved to town we sat the milk bottles out by the front door to be refilled.  They, too, were used over and over.  We could return drink bottles to the store for a refund and they were used again as well.

No, we didn’t have the green thing back then.

We walked upstairs because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building.  Nor did we have doors that open when approached.  We walked to the grocery store or church and didn’t climb into a 300 horsepower machine every time we went somewhere.

No, we didn’t have the green thing in my day.

Back then we washed the baby’s diapers because we didn’t have the throw-away kind.  We dried clothes on a line, (cold or hot weather) not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts – wind and solar power really did dry the clothes.  Kids wore hand-me-down clothes from their older siblings though not the latest fad and not brand new.

No, we didn’t have the green thing in my day.

The only fan we had in the house when I grew up was a funeral-home fan.  We had no electricity which cost mega-bucks to generate.  Our windows were raised in an attempt to keep cool.

No we didn’t have the green thing in my day.

When we cooked we toted in stove wood to build a fire and stirred by hand — no electric machine to do everything for us. The milk was lowered in the well to help keep it cool.

No we didn’t have the green thing in my day.

We didn’t fire up a gasoline burning engine to cut the grass.  We used a push mower than ran on human power.  We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a gym or run on a tread mill which was operated by electricity.

 

No we didn’t have the green thing back in my day.

We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen and my daddy shaved with a straight razor over and over.  Then when I married, my soldier-husband used a razor where the blades could be replaced and had no throw-away kind just because the blade was dull.

No we didn’t have the green thing back in my day.

Back then kids walked to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their mothers into a 24-hour taxi driver.  Anyway, if children were carried to school it was in a buggy or mule drawn wagon.

No we didn’t have the green thing back in my day.

When we finally did get electricity here at the Windy Knoll, we had one plug in each room – not an entire bank of plugs to power a dozen appliances.

No we didn’t have the green thing back in my day.

We kept up with our children without cell phones, too, since we didn’t have the green thing back in that day.

It’s sad that the young generation complains about how wasteful my generation has been, but here in my part of the world it was (and still is) definitely country living.