Henry Rifle Forums

I happened to drive past the old elementary school I went to for 1st and 2nd grades. That got me to thinking (I know, I know, not a good thing!). I was born in the middle of the 20th Century, so when I was younger, there were still quite a few folks around who had been born in the 1800's. Two of my grandparents were born in the late 1890's, and I had a great-grandmother still alive who was born in the 1880's. She attended school as a girl in the that same old school where I went to elementary school.

Now that we're well into the 21st Century, it seems strange to think that I grew up with 19th Century people.

As kids, we were curious about what it was like for our grandparents to live before cars and telephones amd television and radio and electric lights, and such, and we would ask them about it. For some reason, though, they never really seemed to want to talk about it. I kinda got the impression that for them the "good old days" weren't really all that good. Nor were they something to be nostalgic about.

My grandmother was born before the first airplane and before radio and television and lived to watch the moon landing on TV. Imagine! From the horse and buggy to the moon within a single lifetime. What a transformation!

my wife's grandmother migrated from Kentucky to South Dakota in a covered wagon, now days we make much the same trek in our camper .... in 1990 I met one of her uncles ... he was born in Dec of 1899 .... he told me he would live to the year 2000, he said that by doing so he will have lived in the 1800's, 1900's, and 2000's which at the least would have to time him for a place in a record book that nobody was subject to break any time soon ... Dec of 1999 we drove to Pennsylvania for his 100'th birthday .... at the time he still lived alone in an apartment .... he passed away in his sleep on Jan 2, 2000

It really depends. Some have better memories of the old days than others. I have talked to many born in the late 18's and early 19's that really loved the old days. Kind of like how I look back at the 50's and '60's now. Although far from perfect, they were great days that we will never experience again. Funny as we can tell kids today how life was back then, but it's almost like they don't believe it. They also don't seem to be as interested in it like many of us were when we were their age.

The way I see it anyway.

My late great grandmother on my mum's side was born in the 1880's. I was fortunate to know her as I grew up. She died in the 1970's at around 97 years old. Both of my grandmothers lived into their late 90's and my mother and father are 88 this year and still live on their own in their home they've been in since 1965. Married over 60 years.
The changes from 1900 to 2000 must have been astounding to witness for those who saw most of it. Now, even though I'm on a PC right now typing this, I'm not a fan of technology, cell phones, etc. Other than this forum I'm not on social media, and find it a little disturbing. I agree that kids nowadays don't really care about the 1950's or even people in their 20's and 30's don't think anything about it. I am quickly realizing that my childhood and early days are actually ancient history. Weird. I do what I can to keep the old days alive with my cowboy lifestyle as best I can, and maybe one day I can figure out out to wind the clock back.

" A poem of reflection upon days long gone and filled with hopefulness for the days, yet to come." Passage of Time
by Jill Eisnaugle

© 2007 – Jill Eisnaugle’s Poetry Collection 
Posted Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at http://www.authorsden.com

When I look back over the passage of time
I see every mountain God asked me to climb
The paths that my soul was e’er destined to tread
Were ones which prepared me for days still ahead
Each moment of hardship served to make me strong
And left me more able to cope with each wrong
I know I am better than if I had seen
A life when each minute was bright and pristine.

When I look back over the days of my youth
I see all the moments when I learned the truth
The gullible nature I knew as a child
Had restrained my heart before I could run wild
I realize each moment, by fading away
Leads us toward the future and each sunny day
My life is not perfect, but not lived in vain
I have no regrets and I cannot complain.

When I look back over the years I have known
From every challenge, I realize I’ve grown
I’ve conquered each burden I’ve been asked to swallow
Along the set course God has asked me to follow
Each moment of weakness served to pave the way
To the understanding I have, on this day
I may not have more than a nickel and dime
Yet, my wealth exists in the passage of time.

“Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains.”


― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

ditto1958 wrote:As kids, we were curious about what it was like for our grandparents to live before cars and telephones amd television and radio and electric lights, and such, and we would ask them about it. For some reason, though, they never really seemed to want to talk about it. I kinda got the impression that for them the "good old days" weren't really all that good. Nor were they something to be nostalgic about.

My Grandmother was born in the 1880's, and lived through two world wars, losing a few children and a husband as a result. There were no "home comforts", and I think that life in general was very hard. I remember her telling me that she used to go around some of her Jewish neighbours on a Saturday to earn a penny or two by lighting their gas lights, because they weren't allowed to do anything that resembled work on the Sabbath. (I'm not sure how they managed with other tasks?).

I'm sure they must have had some good times, but a 'good time' to them would not even register on our radars today.

2017 is half over..............

I went by my elementary school last year, on purpose. It was not at all what I remembered. It was so small and odd looking now. I seldom go down memory lane like that. Must be that's why.

Ranch Roper, your lifestyle is timeless. One could always run the cows from horseback, using a lever action to fend off predators and taking photographs and posting them here with your phone. Perhaps the best of both worlds.

Yesterday at work, a 20 something asked me what I did after work the day before. I replied I made pulled pork, homemade bbq sauce and had a scotch on the back deck. I asked him what he did. He played basketball and then went on line to play a video game with friends who were at their own houses until bedtime. I guess we each enjoyed our night in our own ways.

Born in 1903 my Grandmother told me stories of how they would come home from school grab the wagon and head to the coal house to get coal to heat there house at night in Rock Springs, Wyoming. I think back at what she had been through in her life with phones and items they didnt have in the house that we take for granted today. I took care of her the last 10 years of her life and she lived to be 102.I cant go by my elementary school because I dont live where I was raised. I have been by there when I have been back to Washington State along with the areas I grew up in as a kid. Everytime I go back to that area I wonder where did all the fields of blackberries and apple trees go. Its easy to answer because the fields are filled with little white houses for you and me. Al

daytime dave wrote:I went by my elementary school last year, on purpose. It was not at all what I remembered. It was so small and odd looking now. I seldom go down memory lane like that. Must be that's why.

Ranch Roper, your lifestyle is timeless. One could always run the cows from horseback, using a lever action to fend off predators and taking photographs and posting them here with your phone. Perhaps the best of both worlds.

Yesterday at work, a 20 something asked me what I did after work the day before. I replied I made pulled pork, homemade bbq sauce and had a scotch on the back deck. I asked him what he did. He played basketball and then went on line to play a video game with friends who were at their own houses until bedtime. I guess we each enjoyed our night in our own ways.

I would've had a bourbon.

ditto1958 wrote:

daytime dave wrote:I went by my elementary school last year, on purpose. It was not at all what I remembered. It was so small and odd looking now. I seldom go down memory lane like that. Must be that's why.

Ranch Roper, your lifestyle is timeless. One could always run the cows from horseback, using a lever action to fend off predators and taking photographs and posting them here with your phone. Perhaps the best of both worlds.

Yesterday at work, a 20 something asked me what I did after work the day before. I replied I made pulled pork, homemade bbq sauce and had a scotch on the back deck. I asked him what he did. He played basketball and then went on line to play a video game with friends who were at their own houses until bedtime. I guess we each enjoyed our night in our own ways.

I would've had a bourbon.

I would have had a blended canadian whiskey, after I dunked on him!

My great grandmother came to this country as a teenager around 1907, she lived to be 98. We should all be so lucky!

Loved your story JEBar!

My grandparents were all born in the late 1800's. One of my great grandmothers sewed a quilt when she was 13 years old during the American Civil War. We have that quilt and it is a beautiful piece of art.
When I was a child we visited some relatives in New York State who lived way up in the hills. The house had dirt floors and a hand crank box telephone. That farm had been in the family for four generations at that time. They did not have electricity and they had a hand pump in the kitchen for water.
I of course grew up with all of the bells and whistles that the 1960's had to offer that my dad could afford.
I did spend my sixth grade school year in the original Great Bridge School. It was a four room brick building that was originally constructed around 1880. It still had steel rails outside of the two entry doors for tying up horses.

Time passes, technology changes, but the human experience does not. Human nature remains constant. We have the same struggles, the same issues, the same joys, the same heartbreaks, as past generations have. We laugh, we cry, we love, we fight. It's only the set and actors on the stage that change.

How we go about living changes, but life itself does not.

One of my Grandfathers was a Spanish American war vet (admittedly, he was too young to enlist, but lied about his age), who was in Cuba, assigned to be a cook's helper. The other an Irish immigrant, he was a logger, who didn't settle down and marry until about age 40 (after he'd run out of trees to cut?). Both of my parents were young members of large families, so for sure we've spanned the 19th to 21st centuries, without even thinking about it .

Jdl447 wrote:“Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains.”


― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Hello,

I love THOREAU and I read his works one or more times per year.

Thank you for posting this.

Cate

Welcome,
I often think of On Walden Pond on my daily walk in the woods with my Beagles.