A Wasteful Generation

I found this on Facebook and wanted to share

Checking out at the supermarket recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. I apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this green thing back in my earlier days“.

The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations“.

She was right about one thing–our generation didn’t have the green thing in “Our” day. So what did we have back then? After some reflection and soul-searching on “Our” day, here’s what I remembered we did have….

Back then, we returned milk bottles, pop bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles repeatedly. So they really were recycled. But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn’t have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby’s nappies because we didn’t have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 240 volts — wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right. We didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of Wales. In the kitchen, we blended & stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she’s right. We didn’t have the green thing back then.

We drank from a water fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn’t have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the green thing back then?

Birds in my Yard

Since we've moved, I've been able to lure a few birds to my yard. A large evergreen tree hangs over the shed in the back yard. It is there that the cardinals come to rest. I don't see them often, but they are so pretty and when I do catch a glimpse of them, I'm delighted.

We have a pair of mourning doves that we put seed out for. Sometimes they come alone and sometimes they bring their friends with them. The most I've counted at one time were eight. I do like having them around.
We also get the odd blue jay. I love to hear these birds squawking and protesting. They will actually fight over the bird seed. They don't come as often as I like, but we do seem them a few times a week.
Birds bring color, song and beauty into the yard. I'm thankful for my feathered friends. I wish they would spend more time here. I'm hoping that this summer song birds will visit. I have to do more research to find out how to draw them. That's my winter project for this year.

Cole is Growing

The grandsons' dog, Cole, is really growing. He is only three months old but is over 30 lbs.

Here he is relaxing. He plays hard and sleeps deep.
He's such a cutie. I love him to death. Whenever I go in the house he runs to greet me, ears flopping and tail wagging.
Chillin'. Why can't humans learn to relax as well as animals?
He loves to go outside as long as it's not windy. Michelle takes him for a couple of walks a day to help keep his energy level under control.
Mmm! Not sure what he is up to, but he does get into mischief once in a while. For his age, he is very good. He is almost fully house trained. He does have an accident now and then. He came to Mom's for Christmas dinner with the family yesterday and no problem at all. He was playing with the four little boys and I thought he would at least do an excitement pee, but no way.

He's very intelligent and catches onto things very quickly. When they picked Cole, they chose a Keeper.

Must Have Been My Guardian Angel

Wow! Accident free for 25 years and it's gone down the drain. On Tuesday evening the weather was really bad. We were driving up the street and I hit some black ice. My anti-lock brakes wouldn't release and therefore I went into a skid and couldn't bring the van out of it. We were headed straight for a large utility pole. All I could think was oh, S----!

We hit the pole and I was immediately out of my seat belt and out of the van. It has a lot of damage to the front end, but thank goodness the air bag sensor wasn't hit, so they didn't deploy. I've heard of some pretty serious injuries from air bags.

Hubby didn't get out of the van immediately, so I went back to see if he was okay. He was short of breath and had pain in his left chest area. After the police had investigated, I took him to the hospital but there was an eight hour waiting time, so he made the decision to come home. Wednesday I took him to the doctor, who sent him for x-rays. He has a cracked fifth rib and is in a lot of pain.

I ended up with a lot of aches and pains in neck, shoulders, hands and my back was injured this time. I haven't seen a doctor yet but will the first of the week.

Seems odd that after 25 years, I have two accidents in one month. What are the odds of that ever happening?

Just glad we are walking. It could have been so much worse. There's a silver lining in every cloud if we just look for it. Grandma taught me that lesson well. The van is in the shop with $3100 dollars damage. However, vehicles can be replaced...people can't. We've been truly blessed this month. My guardian angel has been working overtime.