CHRISTMAS LIKE IT USED TO BE
Every year, I dress for the cold and go crappie fishing before Christmas. My goal is to catch enough crappie for Christmas dinner. To me, crappie caught in cold water tastes better. It is my Christmas gift to me.
I went crappie fishing with a young man from our church recently. We were in his fancy fiberglass boat with all the latest electronics. Forward-facing sonar showed us crappie and nearly guaranteed our lure would entice them. It made it easy. I told him that was nice but I miss the old days of jumping in my jon boat with a couple of rods and coming back with Christmas dinner.
It did not take long for us to limit out that day. The temperature was in the 40s and the sun was shining so we sat there enjoying the scenery and talking. He asked me how old I was.
I told him that I was born on Christmas Day, 1946, in my grandpa and grandma’s old farmhouse.
Kerosene lanterns lit the room. A pot-bellied wood stove kept us warm. There was no doctor or nurse to deliver me. Grandma did that. A scraggly little cedar tree stood in a corner decorated with handmade Christmas ornaments. A few handmade presents were under the tree.
My young friend found it hard to believe that presents were not bought in a store or online. There was no Amazon or Bass Pro Shops back then. No electricity. The bathroom was down a path behind the house. Our water came from a spring on the hill, not from a faucet. He looked at me like he thought I was kidding him.
I went on to tell him that we had a phone you cranked to get an operator to connect you to someone. It hung on the wall instead of being carried in a purse or back pocket. We grew all the food we ate. There was no grocery store close, no food delivery companies to bring it to your door. He could not imagine all of that.
I went on to tell him I spent most of my time outdoors exploring the fields, forests, and streams, enjoying nature. I told him sometimes I wish that I could go back to that time. We worked hard. We helped each other.
I know all this new technology is supposed to make our lives easier. And it has in some ways.
But I do worry about my grandkids and that young man I fished with. Technology controls their lives. I am not sure that is a good thing.
The young man could not imagine growing up like I did. It was a simpler time without all this technology. There are times when I wish I could go back to Christmas like it used to be.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
“Christmas – that magic blanket that wraps itself about us. Something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting or prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance – a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved.” ~ Augusta E. Rundel
