Make the most of your time

Marge and I usually heat with just our wood heat when the average temp is say freezing or above. But when the temp gets any colder than we're used to, we rely on our central heat system. But last spring our central heat system kind of went on the blink, so we don't have it to fall back on right now. I think I could probably get it going but not sure I want to. Our hvac system is probably 30 years old or more. At some point it becomes unsafe to use. And if there would happen to be a crack in the heat exchanger, we might fill the house with carbon monoxide, so we rely on the wood stove. We are getting a new hvac system installed but it might be a month off.

So in the meantime, we were out cutting, wood and I got to thinking about my parents and my grandparents and their "time" or how they "spent their time." I usually get up around 6 or so and coffee up and usually do some emails and catch up on Facebook. I then spend some time reading in the Bible. By this time Marge is getting up, and we have breakfast. Shower and shave and go check the steers.

Yesterday, we spent the morning until about 1 p.m. cleaning the peanuts and getting them ready to bake or use. We have dinner about then and take a nap if so inclined. Then go grain the steers followed by another cup of coffee. It's pretty much dark by then, and the day is over.

So how did our parents and grandparents do life? The morning began when most of them got the milk cows in and milked. It was time then to separate the milk, slop the hogs, feed the chickens, gather the eggs and then have breakfast. Most of them had kids so they had to take the kids to a one-room school, which was a few miles away. In the early days, Grandpa and Dad had to hitch up the mules or horses, load the hay rack with hay with a pitchfork and then feed the cattle. In the winter, the tanks would freeze over so the ice in the tanks had to be broken. Grandpa and Grandma heated the house with cow chips so they had to carry cow chips in and ash out and there was about the same amount of each. Yet they had time to attend a dance now and then and community events. Also time to visit the neighbors and maybe a cup of coffee and a snack and maybe a game of cards. So how did they do it?

One thing they didn't have was a TV, so no TV in the morning or at night. So bedtime was probably earlier than when I hit the bed and getting up in the morning as well. TVs became popular and affordable in the mid-'50s. Mom and Dad made sure we stayed up to watch the news and the weather every night. Back then TV wasn't like today. It was fuzzy and worked part of the time.

Back then they didn't have cell phones, so sitting and visiting with friends and such was limited. All the lines were party lines so you didn't have long conversations. And there was no Facebook. It is amazing how much time one can spend on the cellphone doing Facebook. No emails or messaging. No Google or duckduckgo to do searches on. No online shopping.

One pretty much stuck to the essentials. Food and shelter came first. I can't ever remember going hungry or not having a warm place to live and a bed to sleep in. Education and religion and country were right up there at the top as well. Many times the three were tied together. Community was important. Dances or impromptu rodeos or just get-togethers were important.

We've complicated our lives to the point we have maybe lost sight of what's important: God and family and friends and neighbors and country.