I am back on the “Porch” and so glad to be able to enjoy it again.    Thought I heard a Katydid this morning on the porch but I might be wrong. Some people call them “bush crickets” and I will admit they sometimes sound like crickets. Problem with this is that I might be a bit early… August is when they really sound off and it is usually around dusk. I love sitting on the porch in that light fading time as we work toward the dark on a hot, humid summer night. I got to “pondering” back in the day when no one threw anything away. That time frame would have been during and after the depression…Grandad and Dad’s time…they were a resourceful people and let nothing go to waste. I remember my wife’s dad, Elmo, he would throw nothing away. His garage…which he built himself… was a repository of failed lawn mowers but if you looked at from Elmo’s viewpoint it was a huge warehouse of used parts. Elmo was also a man who would not pass a bargain up. He once he bought a 3 legged electric fry pan from the Western Auto in Roseville, and an assortment of flash bulbs for a camera, which he didn’t have…simply because they were on sale…close out no less. He made a fourth leg for that fry pan, drilled a hole for it and screwed it on. Joyce used it for a few years. My Mom’s dad whom we all called “Pop” served in WW1 and went through the depression in New York City. They moved to Chattanooga Tennessee in 1946 or seven, not sure which. Nonie’s family were from that area. Well to get to the point, “Pop” was a sandblaster for TVA and a weekend car  mechanic. He had all kinds of tools and his garage was an electricians nightmare. Even the wall plugs were used and picked up from a friend of his who tore old houses down. Pop had a 1957 Rambler station wagon… six cylinder engine you could get under the hood and walk around while you changed the spark plugs. It was washed and engine cleaned…wiped down every weekend. Pop used water only, no soap or such and a large sponge to wash the car and then an old rag to dry it with…from his collection of old shirts and such that had been thrown away. The point of all this is that these were folks that were self reliant, practical and lived a simple life AND they were happy and thankful for what they had. It was a good time and full of respect for others. One other thing, not fashionable today…We were really “A Nation Under God.”

Kurt