The Deceptive Rose

The lure... the bait... we sniff... we walk around it... the voice tells us that this is the most wonderful thing that can happen if you just sign right here.....

The latest electric refrigeration above, the 1940 new model. The signs are everywhere, Don't Wait for cash, buy now on Terms. You can even add a new electric range, it can be added to your Time Payment Account.

Adjust your brain that you are living in the year 1940.  Try to use your imagination what that was like.....

Your old reliable ice refrigerator that you have depended on for many years.  Notice the ice block in the upper top right hand side. 

They are trying to convince you that your old difficult ice refrigerator that you have depended on for many years, the one that does not have mechanical parts that need to be repaired is a drain on your poor body. 

The one that is so solid that it is still around today, needs to be replaced because you "need" to become modern.  

They lure you and tell you that the "new electric" will save you money by saving food waste.  Not that you actually have food waste but they tell you that you have food waste.  One very important factor they leave out is they do not mention what the new electric is going to do to your electric bill and the noise that it will make in your house.

Yes, you do spend money on the ice block and you do have to pour off the drain water but they fail to mention that you will have to defrost your new electric refrigerator.  

Now I think about all the men that worked for the ice company that delivered ice for all those years and held good jobs, it was a good system...

I feel that the inner deepest me is on a rescue mission to grab hold of the before it happened time.  

Charles and I are simply trying to put back what makes sense to us in our home.  Frankly we need to keep our monthly bills down just like everyone else.  I turn the lights up for taking pictures but we normally keep things to a minimum and use the lights in the area we are in.  It takes practice to not waste. 

No running water?  Did we just get lazy?  

Okay, I just wanted to make you think for a bit because the more I read the newspapers through these years of history studies the more I have understood how we were prodded along to change.  It did not matter that the change they were doing most often caused debt.  The pressure to change was mighty and so many people started living beyond their means and still do today.

What is sad to me today is that so many people are struggling so very badly and they do not see that most of this today never was and they raised families, and had good times despite it. 

There is something about the 1940's study that brings it all back into perspective.  

Today I was writing a recipe in my book and we were having a electrical storm.  I unplugged everything that I could and right after I did a strike hit close by and I was so relieved that I had unplugged.  I simply lit a candle and continued on.  When things are unplugged or the power is off due to an outage the loudest thing in the house is the silence.  We are not used to the silence anymore and often we do not know what to do.  

Our ancestors that lived without electricity just continued their work, they had the equipment they needed. 

Can you believe that it is pear season again at our house?  Time seems to be going by so fast now. 

We need to do the things that make sense.

We have tried to make a home that provides us some food, shelter and comfort, and that takes work.

Today it seems that priorities have gotten mixed up.

Use water wisely and not just let the cold water run while we wait for hot water to come through the tap.  Use that water for other purposes. 

We take care of the things we can take care of like they did in the past.  It took me becoming an older adult to realize why so many things were so very important to my mother and grandmother, why they did not waste and why they were so excited when it was harvest season, especially fruit and nuts. 

There is so much excitement you can have at home and it will not happen by itself.  Just be your real self, the one that is not perfect. Your home is just waiting for you to make it exciting.  

Study and learn all you can about anything that comes to your mind.  Fill it with knowledge and then turn it into wisdom.

I will most likely post some recipes and some other things we discussed in the forum.

Have you made any changes this week?  Do you feel there is something special about studying the year 1940?  Tell about it in the forum, you will find the forum link up in the menu bar.

Grandma Donna