Appreciate the small things...

Friday is my day off. I have no school, no work, and no nothing. However, I did wait till the last minute to do an assignment that was due on the following Monday for my Southern Culture class. I had to interview a person 65 years or older that grew up on a farm. I asked questions about their lifestyle and how things have evolved since then. I interviewed my mom’s boss. He is 73 years old and grew up on a 60 acre farm as a little boy. I thought 60 acres was a lot of land. This had to mean that he came from one of the few families that grew up wealthy back then, but he said they grew up poor. I found that surprising because anyone these days that owns that much land must have a substantial amount of money. I also found it interesting that they were completely self-sufficient. They grew their own food, did everything by hand, and made their own clothes, even their own soap. The only thing that they bought from a store was salt, sugar, and coffee. I could not imagine living back then especially being familiar with the way things work today. The last question which I thought was the most important was if he thought that the lifestyle back then was better than the one he was living in now. He said he preferred today over the old days because everything is more convenient, but he did make it a point to say that he misses the way the people came together back when he was growing up. He thinks that everyone should appreciate the privileges that we have available for us today.