Eighty Years Ago

Today is my mom's 80th birthday. It's amazing how much different the world is today compared to the day she was born.

She was born in "the front room" of the house not in a hospital. The house did not have electricity, running water, or indoor plumbing. They cooked on a woodburning stove. Their source of heat in the winter was a fireplace. Water came from a well.

My grandfather was a tenant farmer. He had a mule that he used for plowing the cotton fields. They grew or raised almost all of their food.

They didn't have a car, so they walked almost everywhere they wanted to go. If the distance was too far to walk, then they rode the bus between towns.

No telephone. No television. No internet. No microwave oven. No air conditioning. No washer and dryer. No vacuum cleaner. No computers. No video games. Nothing that requires electricity to run.

For entertainment they read books, so it wasn't all bad.

Technology is changing the world so rapidly. I wonder what it will be like when I reach my 80th birthday. Personally, I'm hoping they get the Star Trek transporter thing figured out. Wouldn't it be cool to beam over to Paris for dinner or down to the Caribbean to go snorkeling? :)