Chase has grown a garden the past 6 years as a 4-H project. This year he won First Place in his club and Reserved Grand Champion in the Parish. We're real proud of him. His gardening is one of the things he's learned that I think of as the old ways. There are so many of the old ways that aren't being passed down to this generation and I'm just as guilty as anyone of failing to pass them along. By the time I was Chase's age my dad had taught me to clean fish, skin a squirrel or a rabbit, change the oil in a car, sharpen a knife or an ax, saddle a horse, follow a compass, shine a pair of dress shoes, tie a Windsor knot in a tie or a slip knot in a rope, use a chain saw, start a fire and so many other things kids simply just don't do any more. These things may seem antiquated and irrelevant these days but somehow I think something has been lost if they're not passed along. I'd be interested in hearing about things your parents taught you that you haven't passed on yet.
I knew how to string up my own fishing line, scale a fish with a spoon, catch my own grass shrimp from the bayou bank to use as bait, sharpen a knife on a stone, pull a row in the garden and tie my own shoes.
ReplyDeleteWay to go, Chase! That's a nice looking garden! Call me when it's harvest time. ;)
Your Dad had equipped you with some skills -- and I agree whole-heartedly... something has been lost if they're not passed along.
Thanks for the reminder.
Sounds like you need a Royal Rangers program
ReplyDeleteJodie ... tie your own shoes, huh? That's what I call an "old way." Kids these days with their fancy velcro. Sheesh. When I was a kid, laces were the only way to go, unless you had a buckle.
ReplyDeleteJeff ... Some of my best memories are of watching and helping both my mother and grandmother cook and all the tricks I learned from them.
My mom is famous for all of her sayings, like "when you stay up with the owls, you have to soar with the eagles," (gotten from her father) which I tell the girls on the mornings after they've stayed up too late.
And loads of other little stories and songs she taught me. I sang the same lullabies and songs she sang me to my girls when they were babies and toddlers.
But, I did always want to learn how to sew. My mom didn't know how. One day, I'll learn.
Love the post.