General topics.

And today, hubs time is spent replacing the insides of the toilet....forced to ignore the urgent repairs that were already on the list. We don't know how to survive without the toilet.

Katie, my Dad also rode horseback... as did most of the kids his age going to and from school in the 1920's and 1930's in the mid-west of the U.S. I thought that was so cool, I was jealous. The local sheriff was none to happy with my Dad, as Dad's horse would run the STOP sign... well, the animal was standing all day in the horse shed at school and was soooo happy to get out and gallop home :)

Imagine kids today using a crank telephone on the wall, which was a party line. Or that little house behind the the big house on a cold winter night.... or using a chamber pot which was hid under the bed.

My parents didn't buy their first car until 4 years into their marriage. Ha, imagine young couples doing that today? Dad took the bus to work, and Mom walked to the grocery store.

There were not many cars in the area my Dad lived in in Europe and he had a horse through the 1930s. He didn't buy a car until he lived in NY, a 57 Chevy. He was born in 1915 and was middle aged when my parents had me. It often seems like more has happened in the last 10 years with technology than in all the hundred years before this. I marvel at old movies that were made the years my parents were born...even the year I was born, and how much has changed since then. I'll bet not much changed between 1615 and 1715 as far as people's life styles are concerned with washing, cooking, sewing, etc. It just goes to show how very quickly things are changing now.
I love Ontario...the air is so clean and the land is beautiful. I love woods!

Ontario is so beautiful, any time of year.

Oh, and I think they closed the last one room schools around the centennial in 1967, I was bused to first grade in a brand new central school.

Ha ha ha, rural Ontario (heck most of Canada I think) was decades behind our cousins to the south. My own grandparents didn't get indoor plumbing until the early 1960's!

Good grief cwillie you must be even older than I am.

I've always had an appreciation for the vast changes there have been in my parent's lifetime. They started out with outhouses, coal oil lamps, the house heated with the wood burning cook stove, one room schools, horsepower really came from horses, no vaccines, antibiotics a newfangled rarity, people born, died and laid out in their own homes..... yeah, I'm a history nerd.... lol

Gershun, you are right, the little things. I think our parents were deliriously happy just to have a house and kids. (I am 65). They survived the Great Depression and WWII. Food was on the table. The lights worked, the toilet flushed and the heat was on. Life was good.

Actually, speaking of appreciating things, taking care of an elderly person really makes you appreciate the little things that we take so for granted like, feeding oneself, going to the bathroom, taking a dump, you name it. I find myself doing that a lot lately, (not taking a dump) Lol, but appreciating the small things. Puts a whole different perspective on small tasks that we complain about having to do. Just think if you lost the ability to do them.

I like Sue too, never have see The edge. I like Bush People, even though I know alot of it staged!

Me too Pam.I like to watch Sue on Life Below Zero but my favorite Alaska show is The Edge of Alaska in McCarthy~

I like the Alaska shows.. same sort of thing on some of them!

Speaking of good things to watch - I am a real nut for those reality shows where they take modern-day folks and drop them smack dab into another century and make them live there for a while, with no modern conveniences. I discovered another one on Hulu the other day that was filmed in 2000, but I never saw it until now. It's called Pioneer Quest: A Year in the Real West. It was filmed in the wilderness of Manitoba, Canada outside of a small town called Argyle.

I binge-watched all 9 hours of it in 2 days. LOL (I mean, I'm stuck working from bed, so I might as well have something to entertain myself when I'm not working.) It's really, really good. I happened to think about it today after I watched the last of it - this show can really make you appreciate all that we have. As hard as the life of a caregiver is, can you imagine how much harder it would be to care for an incontinent, sickly elder in the 1800s - in a cabin in the wilderness? No doctors nearby, no Depends undergarments, no Ensure shakes to help bolster their nutrition. No nursing homes, no hospitals, no pharmacies.

As hard as it is these days, there's something to be thankful for....

Sounds good Ms Madge. My Hubs is going to be gone for 7 weeks. While he is away I plan on wrapping myself with blankets and eating lots of soup. Oh, and watch good movies. Yippee!!!!!

If anyone is in need of a 2 hour respite then try to watch the film Our Little Sister

I downloaded off of cable tonight and it was a pleasant evening wrapped in a blanket and a bowl of soup

Hi Mina!
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Where ya been?

......................................................................................................that's all folks!
It is midnight and I can only listen one dot at a time, whereas Gershun most likely gets to post her listening dots a whole line at a time.............. ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................!!!

Hey all,
Just stopping by to recommend everyone check out an article in today's New York Times, titled, "One Man's Quest to Change the Way We Die". Very well written, touching and some great reader comments, also.

There is a link at the top of the Home Page for NYT online (I believe, if you are not a subscriber, you are allowed free access to 10 articles per month). Everyone should read this.....

Thank-you Send! I guess I should check in now and then more often to see how the thread is going. I'm not the hostess with the mostess if ya know what I mean. LOL

I hope ye all had a good New Year's Day yesterday. My new year's resolution is to listen more, talk less. .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................These dots represent me listening more.:)

Hey Madge, saw that!! My dad liked it!

USC wins the Rose Bowl in a thriller- yay

the forum, wherever you post, is a most welcome breath of fresh air. Just to let you know you are appreciated by me, and I am sure others too.

Love you all,
from Send

Gershun, Happy New Year to you too! Just wanted to say thank you again for starting this new thread, where we are free to be ourselves, say whatever topic we want. Your participation on t

Luckylu, Your kind heart, your perseverence in the face of difficult struggles, and your friendship to me and so many others on AC has meant so very much to me too!

Happy New Year 2017 to all the caregivers, past caregivers, and their parents or other loved ones under their care.!
Today is already January 2nd, and I am already tired, but happily so.

( From Wiki:)
Holidays celebrated on the winter solstice

Blue Christmas (holiday)
Brumalia (Ancient Rome)
Dongzhi Festival (Asia)
Korochun (Slavic)
Sanghamitta Day (Theravada Buddhism)
Shalako (Zuni)
Yaldā (Iran)
Yule in the Northern Hemisphere (Neopagan)
Ziemassvētki (ancient Latvia)

Happy Saturnalia - the ancient Roman festival that xmas is based on [look it up]

Merry Christmas y'all! And Happy Hanukkah too!

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, and a very happy new year to everyone!