Time Has Changed Us

Soon the first day of the New Year 2015, will be over and I can't help but think that time goes by at a good clip. Some of us saw the New Year come in, with the drop of the ball located in times square, in NYC.

I no longer feel the need to party till the wee hours as years previous. We enjoy our church service followed by dinner with friends.

It was unusual to be snow less this season, but we certainly didn't lack for frigid evenings. Yet, the ice is not frozen. One day last week it was forty-five degrees, unbelievable for this time of the year. The winter's just begun but somehow it doesn't feel like it.

My husband and I found it a world of pleasantness walking today at the village with the sun overhead and the air so crisp. Stopping in at the Freeman Farm House, we observed the lady of the house making candles, by dipping wicks, manufactured by area mills, having tied several onto dowel-like sticks, into hot melted processed fat.
The dripping set of three or four on a stick was then set over a rack to harden. Going from row to row she eventually got what looked like a tapered candle, unscented, and unlike the honey wax type, white. Looking down to the floor I observed a pool of greasy fat and realized the mess of it all and I was grateful that I wasn't born at that time. We are so fortunate today.

It was surprising that one candle would be used to light the entire house at night, and would be passed between family members as needed. The light from the family room usually came from the fireplace where family members gathered for warmth and conversation. Only the candles made that day would be used for an entire year. Without question, they were both frugal and conservative.

The fat they used was so soft that it actually did not hold up as well as the ones made from honey, creating a fire hazard greater than their fire places. Life held many challenges in the past which are hard to grasp in comparison to today.

Like a drop in the bucket, time has changed the way that we live, dramatically.What will tomorrow be like in comparison, I wonder.

I wonder if they had new year's resolutions and what would they have been? I don't think it focused on weight loss as people in that era were thin. They worked constantly, and had little time for leisure as we do. Most everything was homemade, unlike the way we live today, where we purchase our food, clothing, and basic necessity items.

We actually have very little in common with those who lived just a couple hundred years ago. It's a new day and new year and a time for new challenges and new beginnings. Make it a good one...