HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-01-06, Page 4Tlmea-Advocate, Janus 0. 1110:
Ames -
Times Established 1873
Advocate Established 1881
Amalgamated 1924
LORNE EEDY
Publisher '
JIM BECKETT
Advertising Manager
dvocate
Serving South Huron, North Middlesex
& North Lambton Since 1873
Published by I.W. Eedy Publications limited
BILL BATTEN ROSS HAUGH
Editor Assistant Editor
HARRY DEVRIES
Composition Manager
DICK JONGKIND
Business Manager
Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario
Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386.
Phone 235-1331
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Canada $17.00 Per year: U.S.A. $55.00
C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and 'ABC'
Time to be positive
It would be encouraging if Canadian could stand on
the threshold of this 'new year with the anticipation
that things will improve over the record of the past 12
months.
However, there is little to suggest that there will
be a quick turn -around of the economic problems that
touch many lives. The most optimistic forecast in •
-
dicate that some improvements will show on the
horizon as 1982 moves into the later stages, but of
course, time alone will be the test. •
But it is imperative that people sift through the
doom and gloom predictions to realize that the future
is in their hands to a great extend. If they think and act
negatively, then negative results will probably
transpire.
A positive approach may not guarantee positive
results, due to the contributing elements over which
individuals have no direct control, but it at least
provides the opportunity for success.
Experts predict, for instance, that unemployment
will increase this year. Those who view that prediction
negatively and. tackle their responsibilities with an at-
titude of defeatism will possibly see the prediction
come true.
Those who see the prediction as a challenge to
protest their position with renewed enthusiasm and
hard work, may just succeed in protecting their
livelihood through the positive results.
Most Canadians have enjoyed a high standard' of
living in recent years without having had to work par-
ticularly hard to achieve it. They've ridden on the coat-
tails of others and have come to expect the good times
to keep on rolling without a corresponding exertion on
their part.
Unless they change that attitude and replace it
with some hard thinking and hard work, they'll 'find
1982 to be a year of some hardship.
Those who put their nose to the grindstone, are
prepared to accept a little less in material things arid
tackle the job of living with a positive attitude will
probably find they'll end up at the end of 1982 relative-
ly unscathed.
Some resolutions offered
The New Year is one of those periods when people
tally up their personal score cards, taking a hard look
at the past and planning for the future.
Here are some suggested New Year's resolutions
for a variety of Canadians:
• Prime Mi>ister Pierre Trudeau and the provincial
premiers: that co-operation, and not confrontation,
will play an integral role in all their political activities
in 1982.
• Finance Minister Allan MacEachen and his ad-
visers: that they will change their ways and come to
understand the crucial importance of the country's
small and medium-sized firms, giving this vital sector
of the economy the support it deserves.
• Management and employees at the post office: that
itQ
the mail will indeed be delivered on time in a strike -
free year.
• Civil servants: that they. will understand the dif-
ficulties facing the nation and not seek raises that sur-
pass compensation paid in the private sector. Also,
that they will become a little more civil.
• Bankers: that they will show compassion toward
people about to lose their property, as well as troubled
business people and farmers who require a sym-
pathetic ear rather than edicts to pay . up or sell out.
• The public: that people will at least compare the
prices and quality of products sold by small and
medium-sized retailers, to those of the big chain
operations.
Happy New Year.
Good old days are returning
The London board of education has an
interesting pioneer -days program that is
currently fascinating young children at
the Circle R Ranch in Delaware.
Associated with the program is a quiz
entitled "Have You Ever...?" which lists
64 items such as carried fire wood,
shucked corn, used a scythe. talked over
a crank telephone. milked a cow quilted,
made a slingshot, had your hair cut at
home, etc, etc.
The quiz was recentlypublished in the
Free Press and educaion writer Chris
Dennett had it set up so it could be
'answered by children, parents and
grandparents, noting that the different
totals that would be reached by the
various generations in their answers
would constitute the "generation gap."
I came upwith a total that obviously
belies my ender years, findingthat of
the 64 items listed in the quiz, thre were
only ,six which I have never personally
experienced. Included in that six was the
fact the writer has never experienced
the pleasure of smoking a bit of
grapevine, although there should be half
points for having tried corn silk and
dried leaves.
Nor have I had the experience of home-
made root beer, although again, there
should be some merit in having had to
sample a batch of my home-made
elderberry wine that made vinegar seem
delightful in comparison.
There was no remorse in not being able
to reply in the positive to having trapped
a skunk. That's an experience any
generation would be happy to avoid. The
difficulty, I suspect, is not in trapping
the skunk, nut in getting the animal ou
of the trap.
•
• •
One of the interesting aspects of the
quiz is that while many are rural
oriented and basically from days long
gone, there are some experiences which
{ t
are again gaining some popularity,
although popularity is used in the context
of being practiced as opposed to being
enjoyed.
Among the list of 64 items are the
questions whether you have ever carried
fire wood, split stove wood or filled a
water reservoir on a stove.
Five or ten years ago. that question
would have received a no" from a large
1PV7 ANA
BATT'N
AROUND
xk;
with the editor
percentage of people, but today 'it is
once again becoming fashionable in
many homes.
It will also lead to more positive
responses for a couple of the other
questions which deal with watching an
axe being sharpened on a grindstone or
cutting wood with a cross -cut saw. It
could also bring some positive answers
to yet another of the 64 questions which
asks if you have ever been lost in the
woods which in turn could give a "yes;'
to anotheruestion of whether you've
ever slept out of doors overnight without
a tent.
Another of the questions on whether
you've evercleaned and lighted a
kerosene lamp is also taking on some
modern connotation with the advent of
the new kerosene heaters that have
flooded the market this year in the battle
with the escalating price of fuel oil and
other energy supplies.
The quiz perhaps highlights the fact
that while many of the items have been
experienced mainly by many of the older-
generation, they are things that are
returning to the modern world through
necessity and perhaps even more of
them will become common pursuits as
the economic difficulties of the 1980s
mount.
In fact, there are a few things that the
first and third generations may have in
common that have not been experienced
by some parents (the secondgeneration1.
Carrying fire wood or filling a water
reservoir on a stove may he a couple of
examples to explain that point. Many
young couples are using old-style kitchen
stoves to heat and cook, an experience
not uncommon for their grandparents,
but ones that may have been missed by
their parents.
The increasing number of ecology
buffs who have picked wild greens,
churned butter, etc. are other examples
of old-fashioned experiences that are
gaining some new advocates.
Many youngsters are also seeing some
of these dying arts performed during
school trips to pioneer villages and it
may be that some of them can answer
more question4 in the affirmative than
their parents.
Perhaps the generation gap that most
would expect isn't quite as great as they
may think if they realty cons der some of
the old-fashioned crafts that are being
rekindled.
Some are being rekindled through
necessity, while the majority are
basically through- eniovment and' a
, desire to do something better than sit in
front of the idiot box.
Today's kids can answer "yes" to hav-
ing seen many of the items contained in
the quiz, and unlike grandpa who may be
able to answer even more, they can also
note they can tackle some of the jobs
more expediently by planning the work
on a computer.
•
"My mortgageis up for renewal — why isn't the Trudeau government?"
Another big meal declined
Like many people, we had
a . visiting relative in our
home for a few days over the
Christmas season. Our guest
was my great aunt Etoile
(yes. that's French for star,
but with an anglicized
pronounciation) who is. just
93 years young.
I can remember a time
when Aunt Etoile's age was
a well guarded secret. But
when she hit 90 she dis-
covered that old age is a
novelty. and nothing to be
ashamed of! Now, when she
meets people for the first
time she is able to use her
age at-a'conversation piece -
"Imagine! I'm 93, isn't that
something?" she boasts.
And it is something - she
enjoys remarkably good
health for a woman her age.
She lives in her own apart-
ment in Detroit, where she
is completely independent,
walking several blocks to
buy her groceries. Friends
pick her up for church each
Sunday. and she hasn't miss-
ed a service in several
years. She enjoys reading,
running through a paperback
novel in a couple of days.
But while she seems quite
self-sufficient, she never
ceases lamenting the fact
that she no longer has a car.
I'm sure she must have had
one of the first cars to roll
off the assembly line in
Detroit in those early years,
and she continued to have
flashy new cars until she
was 89 years old. tearing up
the Detroit freeways. But
her eyesight was beginning
to let her down; she even-
tually relented and gave up
her car.
Her ears have also failed
her in recent years, and she
now wears two hearing aids.
But most of the time they
dangle uselessly from her
eyeglasses. Amazingly, she
seems able to hear what she
wants to hear. and shut out
what she finds annoying.
Her memory has also let
her down - to some extent.
During the course of a visit
you'll hear five or six times
over what happened last
week at the Senior Citizens
Club. But with a little prod-
ding her memory will recall
'for her stories of her
childhood - most of which
are fascinating tales not
heard before.
This visit we heard about
her Christmas when she was
seven years old, and she was
sure she wasn't going to get
any gifts. You see, her
father wa's the captain -of a
ship on the Great Lakes, and
was seldom home. Her
mother was raising four lit-
tle girls practically on her
own when she died. Their
father tried to keep the fami-
ly together by hiring
housekeepers, but it didn't
work out. Eventually the
girls were all given away to
different homes.
Aunt Etoile, atseven; was
the eldest. and no one
wanted her. It was easy to
find homes for babies and
toddlers apparently, but
times were tough and people
were unwilling to take in an
older sister. Finally she was
given to a family where a
teen age daughter had died.
She arrived there just before
Christmas.
Because she felt un-
wanted. she was sure there
wouldn't be any gifts for her
at Christmas. But to her sur -
Mary's
musings
Hy Mary Alderson
prise her stocking was
crammed full. She went on
to say that her new home
turned out .to be better than
any of her three sisters.
Aunt Etoile never
married. "But I had
chances. you know," she in-
sists. She was engaged to a
young man who went
overseas in the first world -
war and was killed. His
sister became a life long
friend of hers, and a second
aunt to my family.
Aunt Etoile spent all her
holidays travelling., She
vacationed in Cuba prior to
the communist revolution,
and once toured all of South
America. She' has hopped
about` Europe and Asia
several times. Last yearshe
flew to Florida, and this
year she threatens to take
off for the Bahamas.
While her ears, eyes and
memory have failed her
from time to time. she has
certainly maintained her
'hearty appetite. Perhaps
eating three big, square
meals a day hasisomething
to do with her longevity. In
any case. she was shocked
and disgusted to learn that
breakfast is very seldorti
served in our household. At
8:00 each morning over the
Christmas holidays she was.
rattling around in the
kitchen. searching for the in-
gredients for a hearty
breakfast.
. My husband managed to
sleep through some of our
breakfasts, while Aunt
Etoile polished off a half
grapefruit. an egg, three
strips of bacon, 2,i slices of
toast. two cups of coffee,
coffee cake and jam. I nibbl-
ed on a slice of toast and
watched.
For lunch we would have
soup. sandwiches, fruit and
'a dessert. No meal was com-
plete without cake, cookies
or ice cream. Dinner, of
course. had to be a multi -
course affair. And she likes
nothing better than to sit
down to a Christmas dinner
with all the trimmings.
Her love of food is
reflected in the stories she
tells of her travels. She may
not be able to describe the
ruins she saw in Greece, but
you will hear all about the
unusual salad, or delicious
spring lamb she ate.
Anyway. we served her a.
lull course Sunday noon
dinner before driving her
back to Detroit. We arrived
at her apartment around six
o'clock. and she asked us 10
stay for.dinner. But we just
couldn't face another big
meal. We declined.
On tile way home, we
stopped at McDonalds and
enjoyed some junk food.
What a treat after three
square meals a day.
Kids are so spontaneous
Kids at 5 and 6 are at an
enchanting age. They are'
so spontaneous and
honest in their outlook
toward life.
A couple of them came
in. to show me some work
recently and one men-
tioned that he had a new
pair of eyeglasses.
"Congratulations", I
said. "You know I wear
glasses too, but you have
to look a little closer to
see them."
Entranced; they both
peered at my eyes, trying
to spot the 'contact
lenses. At last they did
and the one with glasses
said, "I see them. So
you're cross-eyed too
eh?"
Another day I was in
the kindergarten room
when the children were
painting.
"My, that's a fine piece
"I know" she said, and
went on with her project.
True confidence, eh?
Somewhere along the line
Perspectives
of work," I remarked,
looking at one of the
works of art being
splattered onto the paper.
The little girl working in-
tently on the easel hardly
looked up.
By Syd Fletcher
a lot of kids lose that con-
fidence.pPerhaps too
critical people look
work of
little ones, expecting
them to be up to adult
standards, immediately if
not sooner.
Following are a few
recipes which the
kindergarten children
memorized at hon and
then brought to school for
a "Christmas Recip
book".
Rice Krispie Squares
Sugar, Rice Krispies,.
marshmallows, butter,
mix it, put it in the oven.
Jello
Some water in a bowl -
some powder - put it in
the freezer, then it's
done.
Potatoes
First' you wash your
hands wash the potato,
peel the potato, put it in
the pan put it in boiling
water. Eat themt
Happy cooking!
t",