Those of You Born
1930 - 1979
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!

First, we survived being born to mothers
Who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing,
Tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,
Locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode
Our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children,
We would ride in cars with no car seats,
No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day
Was always a special treat.

We drank water
From the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends,
From one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon.
We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.
And, we weren't overweight.
WHY?

Because we were
Always outside playing...that's why !

We would leave home in the morning and play all day,
As long as we were back when the
Streetlights came on.

No one was able
To reach us all day. And, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps
And then ride them down the hill, only to find out
we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes
a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes.
There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable,
No video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's,
No cell phones,

No personal computers,

no Internet and no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS
And we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth
And there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt,
And the worms did not live in us
Forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and,
Although we were told it would happen,
We did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and
Knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just
Walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.
Those who didn't had to learn to deal
With disappointment.
Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law
Was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best
Risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years
Have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility,
and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of them?
CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others
who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the
lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives
for our own good.



Kind of makes you want to run through the house
with scissors, doesn't it ?

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms
tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of swine flu
and terrorist attacks. Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?' 



God determines who walks into your life....it's up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go.

I need this back. If you'll do this for me, I'll do it for you.

When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need.

A Small Prayer:
Father, God bless my friend in whatever it is that You know they may need this day!
And may their life be full of your peace, prosperity, and power
as he/she seeks to have a closer relationship with you.
Amen.

Blessings!

The year is 1910

One hundred years ago.

1910 Ford Model 'R'

Fuel for this car was sold in drug stores only.

What a difference a century makes!

I love history; love reading how it used to be. Here are some interesting tidbits I thought some of you might enjoy today:

Here are some statistics for the Year 1910:

• 
  
  The average life expectancy for men was 47 years.

• 
  
  Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
• 
  
  Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
• 
  
  There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.
• 
  
  The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

• 
  
  The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.

• 
  
  The average US wage in 1910 was 22 cents per hour.
• 
  
  The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
• 
  
  A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

• 
  
  More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME.
• 
  
  Ninety percent of all Doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION. Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND the government as 'substandard.'

• 
  
  Sugar cost four cents a pound.
• 
  
  Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
• 
  
  Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

• 
  
  Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

• 
  
  Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.

• 
  
  The Five leading causes of death were:

Pneumonia and influenza

Tuberculosis

Diarrhea

Heart disease

Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.

The population of Las Vegas, Nevada ,

was only 30!

• 
  
  Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented yet.

• 
  
  There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
• 
  
  Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write.
• 
  
  Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

• 
  
  Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores.
• 
  
  Back then pharmacists said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health."

• 
  
  Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.

• 
  
  There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A.

What will the next one hundred years bring?

Something to think about, huh?

Blessings!

Hope you had a wonderful, memorable and happy US Independence Day!


Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Here are some statistics:

• Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.
• Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
• Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.
• Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they?

• Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists
• Eleven were merchants
• nine were farmers and large plantation owners
• men of means, well educated

But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

• Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
• Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
• Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
• At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
• Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
• John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: freedom is never free!

It's time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics and baseball games.

Thanks, Max, for sharing this.
Blessings!

More on Suncrest (Sacajawea) Motel

. . . and the neighboring area.
I suppose you all have heard of the Indian girl, Sacajawea, who worked with the Lewis and Clark expedition? Here's some fun facts:

• Lewis & Clark were seeking the Shoshoni Indians in order to obtain horses
• The Shoshoni Indians had taken horses from the Spaniards in earlier years
• At Fort Mandan (1804) the explorers "discovered" Sacajawea
• She'd been captured at 11 years old and sold as a slave to an enemy tribe
• Became the wife of a French trapper named Charbonneau
• Lewis & Clark wanted to secure her interpretation skills & convinced Charbonneau to join their expedition team

• When the explorers finally found the Shoshoni tribe, Sacajawea recognized her own people and the Shoshoni chief, who was her own brother
• The local two rivers were called by the Shoshonis "Ag-gi-pah" which means "fishwater"
• These rivers contained salmon, so the white men called the river "Salmon River"
• The river has awesome, dangerous rapids
  
• When Lewis & Clark explored it for about 70 miles, they could not return on it because of these rapids

There's a touch of your history lesson today. Don't want to overburden your minds! Enjoy and learn! Laugh. I love history!




Quote:
The trouble with the rat race; even if you win, you're still a rat! --Lily Tomlin


Blessings

THE OLD PHONE (Information Please)

(A friend emailed this to me. I loved the feel of nostalgia in it. Thought you'd enjoy it.)

When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it.

Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person. Her name was "Information Please" and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anyone's number and the correct time.

My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer, the pain was terrible, but there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy.

I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway. The telephone! Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to my ear. "Information, please." I said into the mouthpiece just above my head. A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear.

"Information."

"I hurt my finger. . ." I wailed into the phone, the tears came readily enough now that I had an audience.

"Isn't your mother home?" came the question.

"Nobody's home but me," I blubbered.

"Are you bleeding?" the voice asked.

"No," I replied. "I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts."

"Can you open the icebox?" she asked.

I said I could.

"Then chip off a little bit of ice and hold it to your finger," said the voice.

After that, I called "Information Please" for everything. I asked her for help with my geography, and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math. She told me my pet chipmunk that I had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts.

Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary, died. I called, "Information Please" and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But I was not consoled. I asked her, "Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?"

She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, "Wayne, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in."

Somehow I felt better.

Another day I was on the telephone and called, "Information Please."

"Information," said in the now familiar voice.

"How do I spell fix?" I asked.

All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my friend very much. "Information Please" belonged in that old wooden box back home and I somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall. As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me.

Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.

A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about a half-hour or so between planes. I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, "Information Please."

Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well. "Information."

I hadn't planned this, but I heard myself saying, "Could you please tell me how to spell fix?"

There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, "I guess your finger must have healed by now."

I laughed, "So it's really you," I said. "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time?"

I wonder," she said, "if you know how much your calls meant to me. I never had any children and I used to look forward to your calls."

I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister.

"Please do", she said. "Just ask for Sally."

Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered, "Information." I asked for Sally.

"Are you a friend?" she said.

"Yes, a very old friend," I answered.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this," she said. "Sally had been working part-time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago."

Before I could hang up she said, "Wait a minute, did you say your name was Wayne?"

"Yes." I answered.

"Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called.

Let me read it to you." The note said, "Tell him there are other worlds to sing in. He'll know what I mean."

I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant.

Never underestimate the impression you may make on others.
Whose life have you touched today?


Lifting you on eagle's wings. May you find the joy and peace you long for.
Life is a journey ... NOT a guided tour.

Our boys loved to read (and be read to) before they went to school. How to succeed at instilling that love into their little hearts?

• Let them read as much as possible. (Daily!)
• There are lots of things to read: signs, mail, newspapers, magazines, recipes, directions on a box, grocery lists, etc.
• Make it a game to read with your child.
• Reread the same book; children love it.

Quote:
Young people are in a condition like permanent intoxication because youth is sweet and they are growing. --Aristotle



Blessings!

May Day

"May Day"
by Kate Greenaway

I remember from my childhood, a large story book with a story about children in a small community observing May Day. It's stuck in my mind (all these many years!). By the time May gets here, NORMALLY, the worst of the bad weather is past. The re-birthing of the earth has fully come, and we all take a long breath of relief. We're ready to move on. Here are some fun facts (your history lesson for this month!) about this first day of May:

May Day is a time to celebrate the onset of May. Since the ancient days in England there prevailed a custom of "bringing in the May" on MayDay. This was why people would go to the woods in the early dawn. There they picked flowers and lopped off tender branches to bring them in and decorate the houses. It has always been strongly associated with flowers; it may be because of their availability in abundance.

Making garland is one of those ancient May Day customs that has survived still today. May garlands, is meant for the coming of summer. May garlands were also used while begging by the kids from door to door. At other times of the year begging would have been an offence. But if it was done at May time with a garland. This is why groups of small girls, crowned with leaves and flowers, went from door to door singing and begging.

A May Queen circa 1877

Part of the celebration was the crowning of a May Queen. When the sun rose, the maypole was decked with leaves, flowers and ribbons. The Queen was chosen from the pretty girls of the village to reign over the May Day festivities. Crowned on a flower-covered throne, she was drawn in a decorated cart by young men or her maids of honor to the village green. She would be crowned there right on the green spot. She was set in an arbor of flowers.

(Fess up: have any of you tried this?) Washing the face with May dew was yet another custom. There was a belief among the women in Great Britain and other parts of Europe those days that May Day dew has the power to restore beauty. This why in the Ozark Mountains, a cradle of American folklore, girls used to nurture a belief that having their faces washed with the early dawn dews on the May Day would help her to be married to the man of her choice. (Ah, if wishes came true!)

MORAL of this history lesson (smile): celebrate spring in YOUR way today. Are you creative? Enjoy today, then.

Here's the First Three of Ten Relaxation Tips

1. Relax. It beats anxiety, exhaustion, or a heart attack!

2. Carry a notebook with you. Jot down things that bother you. Make a list of chores needing done. Cross off each item as done. Write some happy thoughts. Develop a poem. Or write a letter.

3. Sleep! Get enough. Don't let two days go by without catching up. Nap when needed. Prepare your bedroom for sleep. Dab a tiny amount of lavender oil on your pillow, temples. Keep that notebook near. Place an eye pillow over your eyes. Turn the heat down. Listen to music, silence, leave a nightlight on, or close your eyes to total darkness.

Trivia Question:
What do you call a baby kangaroo?



Quote:

A little madness in the Spring is wholesome even for the King. 
-- Emily Dickinson

Spring blessings!