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I was contemplating the wintry weather outside my window while snuggled under a blanket and somehow started to think about how things have changed. There are so many things that as a society we don't do anymore. These changes have happened in my own lifetime. But when you think about how much has changed in just the last hundred years, it is mind boggling.
In the 1920's, only the rich had cars, horses still pulled plows and wagons. Tractors and farm equipment was starting to evolve, but when compared to the giant machines that can now plow, manage and harvest millions of acres complete with air conditioned cabs, wifi and satalite radio it is hard to comprehend how things have changed so much in so short a time.
In just the average household, washing machines and dryers spin and whirl on their own. I remember using a wringer washer to wash cloth diapers when my kids were young in the 1980's, I still hang my laundry out on the line in the warm weather, but also remember bringing in frozen clothes off the line in my younger days. Central heat is a wonder in our cold Canadian winters, I love the smell of a wood stove but the chore of keeping it stoked and minded can be overwhelming when it is the only heat source.
Even our clothing has changed. There are not many people who make their own anymore. I used to work for a company called Reader Mail. They were a mail order company dealing solely in dress and embroidery patterns. A huge warehouse lined with banks of shelves filled with patterns. The centre part held tables for sorting the envelopes which were then put on trolley and wheeled between the shelves while we picked the correct patterns that were ordered. Another part was taken up by the desks of the women who opened the mail, and in those days women still sent money including coin in the envelopes. Labels were stuck on the aforementioned envelopes by two girls using an antiquated machine and if you had long hair you had to be careful it didn't get caught in the mechanism that drove the glue wheel. The company went out of business in the 1990's as the demand for dress and embroidery patterns dried up.
Now we buy items made in far away countries by underpaid, often underage workers. The world is much smaller now with the advent of the world wide web as we used to call it in the early days. Now internet or wifi is used. Now we have 5G speed, but how many of us remember the squeal of the dial up connections? It was not so long ago. Makes a person wonder where we are headed as a society and a species.
Anyway, enough of that. Just food for thought.
Wishing everyone Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Solstice, Happy/Merry whatever holiday you celebrate at this time of year.
Until next month, stay well, stay happy
