THE GOOD OLE DAYS.....

I can't let August go by without another thought of the wonderful woman my mother was, who would have been 100 this month. When I think of how far I have come in my 80 years and look back to what raising a family of five-plus was in her youth, it just blows your mind. When we lived on the ranch, we had no running water, electricity, central heat or laundry facilities. She chopped wood, carried water from the near by spring, heated it on a wood stove to wash and bath in. Brought ice in from the ice house for the "ice box", as it melted she had to empty the pan so it would not over flow and have to be mopped up. Keep the coal-oil lamps filled and cleaned for lights at night. Be sure Dad had carried in wood and coal to heat the place. Hang the wash on a line, in the winter they would not dry and be brought in frozen stiff and hung on chairs to finish drying. She heated the irons on the stove to iron her girls clothes for school. She had a big garden, that she harvested, canned and stored in the celler for winter. She had a treddle sewing machine she made our clothes on. We shopped in the Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Wards catalogues that came twice a year.......when the new ones came the old ones were taken to the out house (two holer) for toilet paper. .....which was hot and smelly in the summer and freezing cold in the winter! But, as a small girl I always remember her happy and she loved life and people. She played the piano beautifully, she loved to write poetry and stories. She liked to paint and sewed beautifully. She loved old drift wood, interesting rocks, and garage sales. She did not like to cook (as I don't either?) but we never went without plenty to eat. What would she think of my home today with every convenience available? My cell phone, digital camera, electric fire place, computer, kindle, ipod, gps ,CD'S and red box movies for a dollar. She would no doubt think she had died and gone to heaven......or maybe she has all this where she is......in heaven. Thank you Mom for all the love that made up for any inconveniece I might have had growing up........Mother's picture in the center of the picture.