YESTERDAY'S MEMORIES of a Bygone Time

Sunday, June 22, 2008

A Tank of Gas

My hubby tells stories of him pooling his change with his buddies on Friday and Saturday nights to put a dollar's worth of gas in his friend Johnny's old car, so they could drive around and hang out together. They would go to Sky Castle's and one of them would order a coke while they sat and talked, and when the waitress would be about to shoo them out, another one of them would order something. It was all like a scene out of Happy Days! That was way back in the 50's, before we met and started dating.

I was reminded of his stories when I saw this in the newspaper the other day:

When I was in high school in the 60's, I could fill up my car with $2 worth of gas. Interestingly, I couldn't afford a tank full of gas back then, either.

So, is gas really all that high even now? I'm not so sure. Our first apartment was $52.50 a month. Our first home cost us $101 a month, and it was all we could do to qualify for the payment. My first teaching job paid a whopping $265 a month, after paying for college to get it. When you put the prices of everything else from way back then in perspective with what those things cost today, gasoline probably is right about where it should be. Not that I like paying $4.00 a gallon, mind you. But considering how much money everything else costs, I think our reaction to gas prices may be more emotional than intellectual.

Any thoughts???

Labels: 1950's, first home, gasoline prices, High School Memories, home buying, inflation, mortgage, nostalgia, teaching

posted by Dirty Butter 5:36 AM

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Living a Green Life - At Least Trying To

I think I was somewhat of a hippy before there were such things as hippies. At least, that's the way I felt at the time. I was actually a teenager in the late 50's and early 60's. Joan Baez was my favorite singer, not Elvis. I listened to Classical and Folk Music and consciously tried to not conform. No drugs or free sex, though. Sorry, that's where I drew the line.

As a teacher, I always stressed the Three R's - Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle. And we tried hard to follow those principles as Early Marrieds. But over the years, it's just gotten too easy to not Think Green. I think the Microwave oven may have been my ecological downfall. Just think of all the waste, not only in packaging, but in transportation and processing.

The drought this summer has led me to look hard at all our wasteful practices that we have accumulated ever so slowly. Now, I'm saving our gray water to use on our brand new Lasagna Compost area. This is a double Green whammy, as I'm finding a useful way to recycle all the wood chips left over from having 3 trees cut down this Summer. I know our AC bill will be huge this month, as we had something like a dozen days over 100 in a row, but we caulked every niche when the house was built, and we keep the drapes closed. There's not much else we can do to lower that energy use, other than to raise the temp. That's not going to happen, as DH has to be the hottest natured person I've ever known.

But we do recycle all our newspapers, food scraps, plastics, and cardboard, thanks to the compost heap and a neighboring town, which has a large recycling center. I've been doing the research to make 2 rain barrels, so we won't be without water so much next year when the drought returns. We have plans to landscape the yard, and I'll be using as many drought resistant plants as possible, and planning on ways to limit the grass areas.

We buy most of our books, and many of our clothes at a nearby Thrift Store, not because we can't afford better, but because we enjoy the hunt, and the bargains. We buy a lot of toys there, too, which eventually are sold to parents looking to replace a lost or worn out lovey.

DH drives with the Cruise Control on as much as possible, set to 55. People whiz by us, but we get the last laugh at the gas pump. We do a lot of driving on our Date Day, but that's the only time we are extravagant with gasoline. Even then, I map our route to cut out as much mileage as possible, and to stay out of stop and go traffic on Highway 280 (the most congested road in Alabama) coming home.

Our whole eBay business is based on helping people re-use items we buy at Estate Sales, and it's very satisfying to know that we have helped someone find something they have been looking for.

Oh, and I still love Joan Baez songs, but now I enjoy Elvis, too. Thanks to DH, I've learned to enjoy Rock and Roll, Jazz, the Blues, Blue Grass, Southern Gospel, and no telling what else. But I still am a hippy at heart.

Labels: 1950's, 1960's, Date Day, environment, Estate Sales, Green Living, Hippies, nostalgia, recycling

posted by Dirty Butter 6:50 PM

Friday, February 02, 2007

Chicago Winter Memories

I saw on the News tonight that it was going to be 8 degrees in Chicago tonight. Brrrrrrrrrr!!! Boy, did that bring back a vivid childhood memory of the Windy City!

I don't really remember how old I was when I got to go visit my Grandparents in Chicago one Winter. But I do remember how very cold it was, and how much I enjoyed the snow. It must have been in the 1950's, because I remember being in the Loop, walking down a freezing cold, windy street, in a full skirt with crinolines, which made it stand out. No, it wasn't a poodle skirt, because I never had one of those, but it was that type of skirt. I had what Mama called Snuggies on underneath my skirt. They were basically long cotton underwear cut off above the knees. The reason I remember it so distinctly is that I was so cold that the rough net of the crinolines stung my legs, right through the Snuggies, like millions of little needles. When we got back to their apartment, my upper legs were bright red!! I had never been so cold in my whole life as I was that day.

It's hard to believe that I would have gone out in that kind of weather in anything but pants, but, in those days, girls wore dresses and skirts and blouses - certainly not pants!!

So hearing of an 8 degree Chicago night brings back memories of State Street, Marshall Field's, and the Woolworth's that had an entrance right in the subway station. But most of all, it makes me think of that terribly cold wind blowing off Lake Michigan, and my chapped, stinging legs!!

Labels: 1950's, Chicago, childhood memories, crinolines, Grandparents, Lake Michigan, nostalgia, Windy City

posted by Dirty Butter 6:48 PM

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