My Grandmother Remembers

I took my kids to visit my grandmother the other day. She has to be one of the best storytellers around. Ever since I was a child, I loved to sit with her or work beside her and listen to her tell stories about her childhood or my mother's childhood. Anyway, so as I was visiting her we started talking about how times have changed so much since she was younger. She reminisced about days before refrigerators and microwaves. She recalled having an ice box (you know, that kind that you put a big block of ice in to keep a few things cold) as a little girl and making daily trips to the corner market with her sister to pick up items for dinner. On the one hand, I can't imagine what it would be like to prepare meals and keep a home without all the modern conveniences we enjoy today. But on the other hand, in some ways their life seems simpler than mine. Her stories make life back then so romantic and charming.
Our conversation also reminded me of a great book I read with book club awhile back..."These is My Words". It's a fictional journal about a woman's experiences growing up in the Arizona Territories in the late 1800's. This was of course before my grandmothers time but I remember reading the main character comment how she often "went to bed with the sun" after working hard in the fields all day, just exhausted from intense physical labor...what a contrast to my life. I do sometimes go to bed exhausted, but not usually from physical labor. I think I go to bed overstimulated by the electronic buzz around me...TV, radio, computer, Playstations, etc. I wonder, would I rather be a mother in 1950 or even in 1890? It would give me an interesting perspective to try it for a day or two but honestly I think I want to shout thank you Whirlpool and Mr. Maytag for dishwashers, washing machines, microwaves, refrigerators, and all that! And thanks to my wonderful Grandmother for her wit and wisdom!