Over 30?

Checking out at the grocery store recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. I apologised 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, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilised 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 diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 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 the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and 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 waded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline 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 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 computerised 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?

Graduation plans continue

Well, the Graduation photos are officially ordered and should be in within a few weeks.

University and residency applications are in.

These, combined with my Christmas writing noted below, make it even more official.

I shall miss my best friend as she heads out of her new adventures. But, I wish her all the best in the future and am very proud of her accomplishments.

We love you baby!

Sissel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

Christmas Writing from Blackrose 2011

I had numbered gifts this year and was to remember what each one contained and after opening all, here is what Blackrose read to me.

Now mom I know that soon,
I won't always be around at noon.

You'll be turning a little blue,
so I thought I'd get you a thing or two......

A Colbolt Glass to add to your collection.
A Pretty Pendent to see your reflection.

A handmade Frame, with the ocean and sky.
I know how it always caught your eye.

A Book for when you need your space,
a Bookmark so you can't forget your place.

Couldn't forget the CD. A Geocaching container or two,
I know you'll know just what to do.

A Wok Pan for when you're cooking stirfry.
Some Coffee and Tea for when you want to cry.

A Scrapbook for your postcard collection.

My last gift to you is this poem too.

I can already see that you've begun to miss me.
I love you mom.

You've always known just what to say
I hope I can thank you enough one day.

And of course - I cried.

Waiting his turn