Tuesday

The Days of Olde

Can I just say that a home-cooked meal never tasted so good?

We made it to Oklahoma and left our devestated hurricane-torn community behind.

On the way there, we talked about the last few days. My son said thoughtfully, "Mom, we were living just like the people in the 'olden days.'"

I thought about how life centered around the basics: food, water and shelter. The images of us waiting in line behind hundreds of cars for ice were still very fresh. And it will be some time before I forget the smell of our rotting food.



"Yes, honey, that is very similar to the way people lived a long time ago," I replied.

"Well. The 'olden days' must have sucked."

And even though I wanted to heartily agree, I decided my son needed his mouth washed out.

If I had some sterile water, that is.

42 comments:

Stonefox said...

Hang in there! Praying that Alice doesn't poop in the car. Let us know how it goes! :) Smiles and love to you all...

Lori said...

You should watch the Frontier House series from PBS sometime as a family - wow! If he thought that your Ike experience sucked (which it totally did, btw)it will really blow his mind to think about killing your own dinner and having communal bath water... ;) Enjoy being taken care of - and refrigeration!

Unknown said...

Glad you are doing OK. What an experience! Some very good lessons in all of it for the kids, I'm sure.

You are probably so thankful for just having an intact home to go back to, relatives that you can stay with, air conditioning, and water to drink. I imagine that it changes the perpective a little.

Won't it be wonderful when you can get back to your welcoming, cozy decorated home?

Our prayers are still with you.

a Tonggu Momma said...

Hang in there! Just think - soon - hot showers, cold drinks, clean sheets.

The Source said...

I'm glad you made it to your inlaws safely and that your home is still in one piece. Hopefully you'll be able to get back home very soon.

I'm in total agreement with your son. It must have been rotten to live in the olden days. No toilet paper!!

A Christian Mom said...

Glad you got there safely. Hopefully you'll be able to return home soon.

Joan said...

Sending prayers to Texas for a speedy recovery.
God Bless

Joan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Blogger said...

I have to agree with your son;)

Glad you made it to Oklahoma...I can't imagine what you are going through right now, I hope you will be able to go home soon.

Bella

Happy Mommy said...

I am so glad you all made it safe! I know dinner was a welcome treat!

Dawn said...

Glad you all are with family... safe and well-fed!

Every once in awhile I get these romantic notions of what it would be like to live "Little House on the Prairie-style." Then your sort of reality sets in and makes me praise God for electricity, running/clean water, etc.

How are your parents doing? Did they make the trek to OK with you?

Keep us posted. I am praying for you all and hoping you'll be able to return home soon.

Blessings!

Debbie said...

I am so glad you and your family made it safe and sound to OK. But I have to agree with your son. The "Good Ole days" are in the memories of those that lived them and don't focus on the outside toilets, no running water, hot or cold. Wood burning stoves, in the summer when it was already 90 degrees outside.

I do love to hear my 80 year old aunt talk about her childhood but I'll stick with AC, electricity, running hot and cold water and my fridge thank you.

Nancy said...

Oh my - I totally would have bust out laughing.

Glad you made it safely!!

And selfishly, I'm glad you made it so I get to keep reading your blog ;)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting. For my sake. Just glad to know you are okay AND it didn't wash away your sense of humor.

:)

D... said...

I'm so thankful ya'll made it ok. The home cooked meal is a wonderful treat!

Our water is finally ok! Thank God!

Mom to 5...Daughter of the King said...

So glad to know you all are safe. My children are out of school b/c of Hurricane Ike, too, and I live in OHIO!!!!! Most of Cincinnati is without power!!

Anonymous said...

That is so funny :) I have to agree that the "olden days" must have sucked. It just seems to me that everyone was a LOT dirtier and a LOT harrier. Is harrier a word?

Hannah :) said...

I cant help but laugh at your son's response... lol.

I hope everything is back to normal for you SOON.
God bless.

Anonymous said...

I used to do Civil War Reenactments when I was in High School (OMGoodness, it's been 12 years) and as fun as they were for a weekend, I was more than happy to get back to the present with running water, electricity, heat/ac by Sunday night. Prayers, Prayers, Prayers for you healthy and safety. Blessings, Whitney

Stef Layton said...

keep pressing - tell your son it could always be worse!

best of luck !!!

Mrs.Naz@BecomingMe said...

You've gotta have him read the Little House series...the Farmer boy would be a good one. Bless your heart.

Anonymous said...

Amen! Thank heavens for this news. Enjoy the family time now.

Glad your friends fared well - I did think of them. ;)

God Bless!

Colleen - Mommy Always Wins said...

Hey there!
Life has been busy, so I have been behind on my bloggie reading - sounds like your family is safe so thank GOD for that!

Tammy said...

Heh heh. Poor baby. Glad you all are safe and sound with food and facilities. Two of life's little necessities. ;-)

jOni lAnE said...

Yeah for safe travels. Your kids are too funny. You always keep me laughing. I'm glad you can see the funny in this trying time for your family. My husband loves this quote by Chuck Swindol, "Life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it." I love your reactions.
Smiles,
J

Anonymous said...

Glad you made it safely to OK. Any idea how long you'll be staying?

Also, glad you have internet access so you can keep us up to date and give us our daily dose of THAT family!

Anonymous said...

I was just thinking... I recently finished reading the last book in a series by Terri Blackstock called The Restoration Series. Don't know how long you'll be in OK, but I bet you can relate somewhat to the predicament the main characters are in, though not on as grand of a scale... still you might enjoy it...you can get more info online... let me know if you read it and like it.

TJ said...

wow, I'm glad you are safe!

Tonya Staab said...

I'm just catching up on your blog and had no idea you were in the middle of this.

I'm so glad you are all safe.

Just said a prayer for sweet tea for you.

Judy said...

Hey - my grandmother had her power turned back on this morning - Bering Drive and Woodway!

My parents, up in northeast Texas, have been personally told it will be at least another week if not two or three before theirs is back.

And my in-laws have no clue when they'll get theirs (Montgomery County - outside Willis and Conroe).

Anonymous said...

It's all fun and games until someone stinks.

Really praying that power is restored soon. Along with your sanity.

mamatutwo said...

I had no idea that we must be neighbors....we thought about evacuating, but after what happened with Rita, I was afraid to chance running out of gas on the highway.

I've posted about our experience (and will continue to) on my blog. Been running up to mcdonald's to use their wifi!

AGSoccerMom said...

So Glad you made, and praying for everyone.

marky said...

There is no place like home!
You even managed to make this post funny when I know it must have been very stressful for your family.
Praying for a quick return to status quo

Anonymous said...

Dee from Tennessee

Thankful y'all made it safe.

Lorie said...

I am glad you made it to Oklahoma. Hopefully your community will be back to normal soon and you can make your way home.

Driftwood and Pumpkin said...

Continued prayers sent your way. I don't know what else to say other than thank God you are safe and you have each other. That is a lot at this point!

Anonymous said...

I had a peach sweet tea at Sonic today and thought of you! I said a prayer for your life to get back to normal as soon as possible.

When I was in college I had a roommate who LONGED to live back in the days of Laura Ingalls. Me? Well, not so much. A girl needs her curling iron and mascara, no?

Natalie said...

glad you made it safe to OK.

we are in north texas and our church is housing around 100 people from the houston area. right now hubby and i are about to be folding the 4th load of laundry for one of the families. i'm just glad we can do a little something to help.

The Apron Queen said...

Glad to hear you weathered the storm OK. We are back home safe ourselves. Lights back on & working on cleaning up.

Jillie Bean (AKA Bubba's Sis) said...

I agree with your son. This whole experience convinced me that I don't even want to go camping.

Mom said...

It amazes me how easily society has adapted to technological advances.

Too much has been lost in translation, though. The simplicity of those olden days is what we really crave. Life was not nearly so complicated back then. It might have been more difficult, but it was still far less complicated.