Payback Time

Last night I started reading "A Nation in Torment," a book written by Eddie Ellis, who was a friend and mentor. It's about the Depression. The foreward to the second edition, which Eddie wrote in 1995 (he died in 1997) was chilling. And it made me miss him dearly. He wrote of the need to understand history so that we don't repeat our mistakes, and how much the nation's status in 1995 (homeless people, the gap between rich and poor) reminded him of the set-up to the Depression. I wish Eddie was alive. I wish I knew what he thought about the economic situation of today. We need the wisdom of people who lived through the first one badly right now.

The Depression created many personal tragedies. People not only jumped out windows; less dramatically, they also died from heart attacks caused by the financial strain. My father-in-law's mother died from the tragedy of having her five children taken from her and placed in orphanges because she couldn't support the family (her husband had died as the Depression began). My late grandfather lost his college scholarship (funded by an insurance company he worked for part-time) and had to go to work to support his family (he wound up putting his brothers through college and never got to finish his own education). My grandfather (in his early 20s) drove a milk truck in Chicago, when people had their milk delivered to their homes. He told the story of a destitute family on his milk route who had no choice but to abandon Chicago and head for Kentucky, where they had family. They had no money even for gas. My grandfather loaned the father $5. That father mailed that money back to my grandfather once they got to Kentucky, one precious dollar at a time. It was a terrible time. No one now can imagine the desperation.

Somehow I feel this all ties in to this blog, to the search for things that are made by hand, that aren't a product of mass consumption. For every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and this economy is going to force the issue. We've overconsumed, and now there's going to be payback.

How many of us wear THESE anymore?

Thanks to Angie for contributing this piece called "Grandma's Apron." Author unknown. It's a bit sentimental:

I don't think our kids know what an apron is. The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven. It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was evenused for cleaning out dirty ears. From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, andsometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven. When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids. And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms. Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove. Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls. In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees. When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how muchfurniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds. When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, andthe men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner. It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that'old-time apron' that served so many purposes. Send this to those who would know (and love) the story about Grandma'saprons.

REMEMBER: Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw. They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs was on that apron. I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron--except love.

Living on Wisteria Lane

This weekend, Miss Becky Home Ecky is actually living up to her name. Plans call for a neighborhood garage sale, lemonade stand and block party. Cooking is involved. (Chocolate Toffee Oatmeal cookies for the lemonade stand; chicken wings for the block party). Plus there's a soccer game tomorrow morning; you'll find me standing on the sidelines with a mug of coffee like all the other parents.

You long for Wisteria Lane; then when you get it, all you want is to rebel.

I did tell the neighbors that we wanted to host a Swingtown party and have everyone come in 70s garb. However given that we are the new people on the block, I think that could be misconstrued!