"The Good Old Days"

Nothing too exciting to post about this week, but thought I might share some thoughts & discussion Jeff & I had the other day. We were talking about a particular employee we have here, whose favorite "go to" response is "I hate ________, I just should have been born back in the Good Old Days". As we discussed him, it occurred to us, that he isn't really "out of time" in the sense that he would have been happier in another time period, but that he uses that response to mask his shortcomings, whether that is fear, laziness, anti-socialness - whatever. Additionally, he doesn't REALLY realize what he's saying. This person, who doesn't like guns (they're too loud & smelly), machinery (too big & noisy), work (unless it is just riding down a trail) doesn't realize that the time period he wishes he were born into, required: a) knowledge and use of guns, often, if you wanted to eat b) Work from sun-up till sun-down c) Viewing horses as tools NOT pets (so he wouldn't be able to coddle them the way he wants) All of this led us to thinking about how we sometimes say the same thing though! But, we've come to realize that we don't REALLY want to back to a time w/ no running water, no electricity, no regular mail, no passive entertainment (although sometimes I wouldn't mind no TV), no seeing friends or family for months or years at a time - or maybe ever, no microwave, no freezer, no good antibiotics... and so on. What makes us truly enjoy our times in the back country, or camping, or riding - is our knowledge and ability to go take a shower at some point, to sleep in a great bed, to share our experiences with others. On a final note, however, I WILL say, that I'm not so sure we wouldn't be better off at times with a lot less of the "more" we have now. The ability to veg out in front of a tv, eat a ginormous size McDonalds meal, spend almost nil effort in "work" each day, has resulted in an over-weight society (me included), that would rather be spoon-fed not only our entertainment, but "our" conclusions to any discussion item of worth (i.e., politics, religion, best "last" meal - whatever). I think we have gone past "comfort" into the death-trap of unconsciousness -with our eyes open. We seem to just sit & let an elite few's opinions & decisions flow into our wide-open brains. We no longer interact with one another on a real basis - instead it's facebook friends, email correspondence, and texts instead of calls. I remember some friends of my parents coming to visit one time, who had not seen my parents in over a decade. But, they sat down & visited & laughed like it had been yesterday - because they'd had a REAL friendship. How many of our "friendships" now would with stand such a gap in interactions? All this does make me somewhat nostalgic for an imagined "good old days".. but all-in-all, I'm pretty happy with where I'm at these days. And, I hope that you are too!