August 3, 2022 A Day Without Internet
Sometimes it takes our cable company to have a power outage to force me to write my blog. It is only 5:15 AM at our home. Therefore, I am forced to hear all about the old days, long before cable TV or internet. This morning, Nancy rambled on and on that by 6:30 most mornings, she would have completed her various scales from major to melodic minor, accompanied by the chromatic interval studies, not to mention endless LONG tones. There was never be a cell phone or email interrupting her practice because none of those existed yet. Back then, there was not even the option to go lap swimming at a health club at 5 AM. So, on that beautiful farm where her brothers and Dad were milking the cows, Nancy was practicing saxophone.
Of course, I wondered how she was dismissed from those chores? Apparently, she was always given the tasks of helping with meals and cleaning inside the house. Then, there is the modern question of, well couldn’t she have done the boy’s jobs too? Sure, but, it just worked out that way and it was not a gender issue back in those days at all. She simply HAD to practice saxophone. It was as though it was an addiction that she just had to have. (Ah, it still is by the way!) Hmmmm….let me think about if I have any addictions? Nope, I am a pretty clean dog!
Now, when it came to all the baseball games played on the farm, she was right in game, with all the neighborhood boys, etc. They had their very own baseball field right next to the chicken barn. I understand that the baseball games with her brothers were just as much fun as the 4-H softball games. No wonder she likes to watch the Minnesota Twin’s baseball games with me! I think we should consider moving to a place with no TV or internet. It allows me to not be distracted by all the media, PERIOD. As I finish this, our internet is still down. I am anticipating a day of new adventures and beginnings.
One thought on “August 3, 2022 A Day Without Internet”
Oh it’s funny what makes us take time to do the things we might otherwise be distracted from doing. Nothing like a good power outage to take us back to simpler times.
This post took me right back to my childhood, although I was NOT practicing clarinet the way Nancy practiced saxophone. However, I was singing everywhere I went! Vocals were always more my passion than instrumental music, although where I grew up, everyone in school had to do every activity in order for there to be enough kids to form a band/team/choir, etc. So we all did it all!
Another difference – I was NOT given a pass to practice my instrument, so I found vocals were something I could do while I worked. AND I had to do both the “boy” chores and the “girl” chores because I was the oldest of all my brothers and close cousins – all males, with 5 boys to the north, 4 to the east, and 3 male cousins who regularly “lived” at our house, as well as those from town whose parents thought it would be great for them to have a summer farm experience. They definitely did not concur after being put in a hot hay barn throwing bales all day or picking corn out of the beans. In fact, one begged to go home to town after only a couple of weeks!
We too played not only baseball, but tackle football. Being competitive right along with some very competitive boys, I incurred a compound femur fracture during one of our many summer football games at age 12, and that resulted in a two-week hospital stay and ended my football career. But we also played 4-H softball, church softball, school softball, and summer leagues. Of course only when chores permitted that. With a dairy farm of 70+ cows and over 1,000 acres to run, my dad and uncle always had us hopping.
I always joke that there was absolutely NO gender discrimination on the farm. If you were able bodied, you were recruited into any job that needed to be done. My dad often sold me a bill of goods to encourage me, but the confidence (or in some cases frustration) that came from this was priceless. However, I failed in epic ways working with tools and maneuvering big farm vehicles in tight spaces, no matter how hard he tried to teach me. I still wonder if I’m somehow spatially challenged – I have many stories on that topic. This got me thinking about the natural talents and gifts we all have, and I certainly didn’t get the gift that involved spatial abilities or using tools.
Nothing like a rainy Saturday to share a response to your always thoughtful blog posts! Hope you, Harmony, are enjoying some beautiful music this morning. Time for me to run off to the multitude of chores that await. Enjoy a restful weekend!