Over the Highway and Through the Crowds and Clouds
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Ok, ok, I admit it. It’s not quite the same as the title to the stories I recall reading in our local paper as a child. I’m referring to a guest columnist of our local paper that would tell stories throughout the holiday season. His stories were about what all went on when he was a child in his family and community in the weeks and days leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas as well as the actual holiday celebrations themselves.
Being that I was kid and that was back in the 60’s, of course, his stories were probably about the holiday season during the 40’s and possibly as early as the 30’s. I don’t recall reading how old he was at the time of his writings. I just remember it seemed like he was a kid such a l-o-n-g time ago at the time I read his stories. Everything he described was about the “ole timey days”.
Anyway, I was just sitting here thinking about how much times have changed since reading his stories. His stories included traveling to his grandparent’s home on horseback and in wagons as well as the older model cars of his childhood era.
The grandkids spent days helping Grandma bake goodies in the ole woodstove. Part of his job was bringing in firewood and keeping the fire stoked. My own grandson’s job would just be to push the button on the electric stove or microwave.
Think of how different it is today. We don’t load up in the old Model T Ford or hitch up Daisy, the family mare, pile in the wagon and travel over the river and through the woods anymore. As far as I know, nobody has done that in ages, yet for some, it may still be a vivid memory. If it’s your reality today, I would love to hear about it!
No, these days we load up the website of our favorite airline and book a flight weeks if not months in advance before seat availability is gone. Or we pile everything under the sun into the car/truck/SUV, fill up the tank, map out our favorite food establishments for meals along the way and take off driving to the next state or even the one on the other side of that to spend the holidays with loved ones.
If we decide it’s necessary to take a flight, we book our flight online, print out our boarding pass, spend at least a day getting to the airport, standing in line, zipping through the crowds to board our flight, and whisking through the clouds IF we’re lucky enough for good weather to be affecting all legs of our flight before and after our flight.
Unlike today, in most cases during the time he spoke of everybody lived in close proximity to their immediate family members. And, yes, they did when I was a squirt in the 60’s, too. Except my family. We were some of the ones that moved F-A-R away to the big city even though we only lived an hour away.
It was long distance to call immediate family and were those long distance calls expensive! I’m sure the $$$ signs were running through my parent’s mind quickly as they would take forever dialing the number of a family member on that rotary dial telephone.
That thought reminds me of the little table that sat in the hallway of the house. It was the telephone table where the phone and phone book were kept. I can even remember our phone number from then.
I think it’ll be interesting to share some of what I can recall of that author’s stories and compare tidbits with my own memories and with things as they are today. If the gas prices don’t drop and level out soon, we just might be hitchin’ up Daisy again for a few days ride to see family before ya know it, though.
Do you have anything to share about your or somebody else’s holiday memories of yesteryear? Yesteryear. OH! Sounds like I’M talking about the “ole timey days” now! 
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