I want to write about #94.

on sunday It was my fathers birthday. And as usual my grand parents and my great aunt come up for dinner. As they talked and ate somehow the conversation got turned onto the subject of my Grandfathers and My aunts childhood. My aunt was born in 1928 and my grandfather 1930. They both lived and worked on the Gade farm with countless other uncles and cousins and aunts and friends. They got talking about what they used to do as kids and soon the conversation turned to practical jokes. In the fine days before toilets were common in the average house, evidentially it was quite a knee slapper to tip over an out house. My grandfather talked about he liked to play pranks on Halloween. Soon i was asked why kids today didn't play pranks like these anymore. Besides the fact that none i can think of owns an outhouse people are just too scared to play innocent pranks anymore. If i played a prank like one of those and got caught by the police the school would have a hissy fit. I explained this to my grandfather and he shrugged. This insight into the past shows me how uptight our society has become. You cannot do anything now without getting in trouble. Believe me i don't smoke or drink or any of that stuff, but if you do something small like tip over and outhouse (if there were any) or teepee your least favorite neighbors yard you are bond to get your butt kicked. I listened to my elders talk about those days before WWII and times during the depression and it sounded ver peaceful. There was no route 20, there was no TV, there was no mall or developments, everything was either farm land or woods, at least in Guilderland. So its not so much that i wish they would understand us more i just wish we understood them more. They have a certain air about them of simplicity and always knowing what to do. Maybe that just Grandparents for you.