Pat Bean's blog

Pondering the Past and Present

“Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory.” – Franklin Pierce Adams

I suspect I would have had less time to piddle around with my watercolors if I had been a pioneer woman. — Art by Pat Bean 

I’m reading Tobias Wolff’s This Boy’s Life. At one point in the book, he is told by his mother’s boyfriend that children shouldn’t be bored, that there were plenty of things to keep them occupied, and then he went on to note that when he was a boy there were no TVs or record players.

A sketching day is always a  good day. Art by Pat Bean

The words brought up the times I had used similar phrases to younger generations. “When I was your age, I walked two miles to school, and I was 14 before our family had its own television,” are things I specifically remember saying.

The implication is that those were the good old days. But were they really?

My five children, now in their 50s and 60s, are all still living. In the olden days, before vaccinations, they probably wouldn’t. As an American woman, I can vote. Before 1920, I couldn’t have

I have more time to read, and more books to read than I would have had as a pioneer woman. And I have the internet, which I love despite its flaws and capabilities to spread lies and hate. The Web satisfies my curiosity for knowledge and keeps me connected to my widely scattered family, and eventually exposes the world as it is.

While it certainly would be more peaceful without such knowledge, we are thinking beings and not ostriches that stick their heads in the sand, or so it is said when danger is on the horizon.

As an old broad, I’ve experienced a bit of both the old and new days. Like everything else in life, neither was or is perfect. I. however, I prefer to live in the present, and enjoy the advantages even if I have to live with the disadvantages.

Bean Pat: Friday Wisdom https://andrewsviewoftheweek.com/2020/02/21/friday-wisdom-end-meeting/ Short and true.

Blog pick of the day.

Pat Bean is a retired journalist who lives in Tucson with her canine companion, Scamp. She is a wondering-wanderer, avid reader, enthusiastic birder, Lonely Planet Community Pathfinder, Story Circle Network board member, author of Travels with Maggie available on Amazon, and is always searching for life’s silver lining.