I was watching The Spirit of St. Louis (starring Jimmy Stewart) while the folks at NASA labored to repair a hydrogen leak on the space shuttle. Interesting juxtaposition, isn’t it?
I was thinking about things like this, how far we’ve come and yet how some things have stayed the same, this afternoon while I was hanging laundry out to dry while the kids played in a swing built by SwampMan. When I was little, I played on a tire swing put up by my grandfather in my grandparents’ yard while Grandma hung out her laundry to dry. ‘Course, she washed hers in a Maytag washing machine with a wringer.
My aunt always used an old-fashioned wringer washing machine long after Grandma abandoned hers for the convenience of a washer and dryer. She felt newfangled washers didn’t get the clothes quite as clean. I have an old wringer washing machine in my garage if I ever feel the need to get the clothes extra clean which I haven’t felt so far. The option remains, however. I DO wash my wool in washtubs and use a (handpowered) wringer to get the excess water out of the wool.
Grandpa cut his grass with a handpowered reel mower and scythe for ditch clearing. I cut my grass with a handpowered reel mower with a scythe for ditches and tough weeds. Mom (and my husband) think I’m nuts. So would my grandmother who was happy, after grandpa died, to use power mowers. Grandpa would probably approve.
*sigh* Unfortunately, I haven’t inherited the green thumb that belonged to my mother and grandmother.
