The Cracked Acorn: The Good Old Days

We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, & the melons, & the leeks, & the onions, & the garlic. – Numbers 11:5

One of our sons every now and would ask me to tell him about the good old days. Well, are the good old days gone? For us, the now older generation…those days are well gone. If you grew up on a farm or in a small town, the scenery is mostly gone. Family farms may still be trying to make it on 100 acres, I doubt it. The small town may now have its WalMart or a strip mall. Holidays are celebrated in a larger fashion than 50 years or so ago.

Some of us would think that the good old days were not really that great. Doctors usually had an office nearby and sometimes acted like Doc on Gunsmoke… you know, “Try this and if you make it through the night and have no more pain, well, then you are cured of whatever you had.” We are definitely living longer than past generations who died of flu and even childhood infections that were killers to the older ones.

There was the church or rather the church building, one for the soul and the other for fellowship and picnics, vacation Bible school for the farm kids. At Christmas, there were boxes of food to be put together and delivered. That is still done today, not as much maybe, food stamps and charity agencies have assisted. Since we were less than 10 minutes from the church building, we were there any time the door was open. There were many sermons a week-long gospel meeting every year. I never remember the members ever strayed far from the straight and narrow way. If they did, it was down the front and put back to the work of the Lord. (Matthew 7:13)

The one thing that I miss from the good old days is freshness. There was a large garden that brought in all the best of vegetables and fruits. You name it, it was grown. I don’t think I recall anyone dying from too much homegrown nutrition. I, also, miss the open invitation for visiting.

Remember those days gone were the time of much openness with farmers and townspeople. If you decided that after supper and you were spruced up a bit, there was the chance for visiting a neighbor or having a neighbor stop by; this was when stories were told about hunting or about the latest failures in crops and the plan to do better next year. Pigs on the loose and a stray cow were times to laugh about.

I turned on my radio, in the middle of the night, and I heard things I need to know. Well, I never knew I had Martians in my Garden, and I never knew there were Aliens on my roof.

I’ve got Shadow People, and they’re living in my basement, Got a funny feeling, Bigfoot’s gonna be here soon.

I was so blind before, I was so unaware, But now I swear I’m seeing Sasquatch over there. (from Coast to Coast AM1100, theme)

No one ever asks about the growing of tobacco. It is a delicate plant and many hours have to be given to it from the tiny sprouted seed until months later, its cured leaves go to the market floor and sold.

My sister and I agree that it was with our help that the family was able to get through the hardest of times. If a hail storm damaged all the crops, it surely ended the tobacco crop for that year. Tenant farmers raised tobacco on the shares and it was their Christmas money, shopping: toys, clothing, and a bit of holiday entertainment to the movie or a trip to visit distant relatives.

A farm boy accidentally overturned his wagonload of corn. The farmer who lived nearby heard the noise and yelled over to the boy,

“Hey Willis, forget your troubles. Come in and visit with us. I’ll help you get the wagon up later. That’s mighty nice of you,”

Willis answered, “But I don’t think Pa would like me to.”

“Aw come on boy,” the farmer insisted.

“Well okay,” the boy finally agreed, and added, “But Pa won’t like it.”

After a hearty dinner, Willis thanked his host. “I feel a lot better now, but I know Pa is going to be real upset.”

“Don’t be foolish!” the neighbor said with a smile. “By the way, where is he?”

“Under the wagon.”