Simple Beginnings

At many times my life could have gone many different ways, and most of those times it was my own choice that shaped things. But in my early years my parents made a series of choices, and though I can't say whether one was better than the other, I do know that my life could have been very different.

When I was born my parents lived in a small pre-war house settled on a long narrow strip of land. It had a lawn to play on, flower beds to hide in, berry patches, vegetable beds and a few fruit trees. My mother made most of my baby clothes, including bibs and bedding, and cooked most of our meals from scratch. She worked part-time and I was cared for by my grandparents or in someone's home with a hand full of other young children. It was the start of the 80's and my parents had a budget to live by and a whole lot of energy for a good life.

I remember playing outside, or in the lower cupboard where the pots and pans were stored, and going to the library. We didn't watch a lot of television and what I do remember watching was on PBS. And my baby sister was my favorite playmate. We never wanted for things, and most of the things we owned were of quality, not quantity. Bedroom furniture was bought from a good store, in a classic style and piece by piece. We still have the high chair, cradle, head boards, dressers and desk that my sister and I shared. What was gifts and what was saved for, I don't know, but it was all saved.

This life, though seen through nostalgic, blurred eyes, is the kind of life that I aim for, for today. Though I loved the later years of living on a child filled cul-du-sac, in a new house, with cable and pretty much anything I wanted. Part of me wonders how my life right now would be different if working at the simpler things had ingrained on me as habit and not just memories.

The sad part, I fear, is that living that life now would cost twice as much as it did then, even after you adjust for inflation. (but that's another day's post)

Watering Can on Chair by Cecile Baird

The Simple Life

Simplicity and the Simple Life seem to be on the minds of many in past days. I don't know if is a symptom of Spring Fever or a side effect of rising gas and food prices; but it has been on my mind too.

The search for something simple has always been in the plans for my husband and I, and now that we are coming up on our first wedding anniversary and have settled into our life together a little, it has become a goal of ours. However for us is not as easy a goal as we thought. We both work, I mostly full time and him more than full time. This makes convince food and instant gratification an easy way for us to eat at 8pm when we get home from work.

But while we try to work on the bigger issues there are some simple pleasures in our lives. I love to garden and have started growing veggies in pots out in front of our condo, hopefully this summer they will bless us with food at out finger tips. Also one of our favorite "dates" is going to the farmers market or during the winter the indoor Amish Market; my husband and I love to stroll, hold hands and talk to the sellers, it a louse us to feel active in our community and in our food choices.

One of the gifts that we give to each other for birthdays and other special occasions is parties; we throw something into the Crockpot and invite friends over to share the afternoon with us. The memories are fare better than any trinket that could be found hastily at a store. And this year for Christmas Ro got me crayons and paper, we'll sit and draw our dream home or just smiling little cows. Colouring is one of the small joys that adults seem to forget.

Eventually I will raise our own chickens and sheep like his mother does, embroider baby blankets like his grandmother does, bake bread like my mother does and grow bushels of vegetables like my grandmother does. But until that day, we will slowly slow down and begin to find what our Simple Life is.