Dot`sThoughts

February 28, 2009
Here it is- almost the end of February, 2009. Part of me wonders where the past couple months went to. Seems like Christmas was just about three or four weeks ago. The other part of me can`t wait for winter to end and the high snow banks to start melting so I can see to back out safely from my driveway onto the road that runs in front of my home. My road is just wide enough for two cars to pass comfortably in the summer, but in the winter they don`t plow the road as wide as they could. I think they are afraid of hitting the mailboxes that sit near the side of the road. Maybe I should explain the mailboxes for future generations in case they stop delivering mail to every home years from now. We have home mail delivery. The mail delivery person drives a vehicle and puts each family`s mail into their own mailbox that sits on a post that is driven into the ground to keep it from falling over. If I lived in the city I would only have a small letter holder on the outside of my house on the front porch and mail would be delivered by a postman or postlady who walk on foot while delivering.

We have always had our mail delivered 6 days a week-- every day except for Sunday. I heard on the television that they are thinking of stopping the Saturday delivery and only leave mail on the 5 week days instead of 6 days. They figure it would save money. Might save the government money, but what about how much harder it might make it for the family if the post delivery person lost a days pay every week. Who is thinking of their families? One day a week might not sound like much till you realize the paycheck would be 4 days less every month . With 52 weeks delivery every year, that would be 52 less pay days every year- like having almost two months vacations without pay, How does a family manage during those almost two months. Do they go on Government paid welfare help? How much would be really saved if the Government had to support the whole family instead of paying the 52 days pay to the parent supporting this family. But the government would not help these families for that one missing payday every week. So, the Government might give them one less working day each week, instead of the almost 2 months off because this way they won`t have to help support the family. But that one day less pay becomes a lot of less pay for the worker as the weeks go by.

A few years ago they spoke of making the 5 day a week school days into 6 days a week. Now, that would cost much more than what the one less mail day pay would save. Paying so many teachers , plus more supplies, heat or cooling for all the school rooms, more gas and bus repairs to transport the children the extra day each week- all this would sure amount to quit a bit. So, property taxes would probably be raised to help cover this extra cost. So, again, it would be the people who would suffer with paying out more.

To get back to the road that isn`t plowed very wide- to make matters worse seems there is always at least one or two cars parked in the road to drive around. One was parking across from my driveway making it hard for both me and my daughters to back out of our driveways. There is just a couple feet between our two driveways. Once the snow is gone then they can park further off the side of the road instead of in the road. The town snow plow had to drive around the parked car leaving the snow in our driveways in order to get passed the parked car. This one car didn`t even have a license on it, so according to laws it can`t legally be on the road. Still the police didn`t wish to do anything to have it removed. Finally the town got tired of only being able to plow part of the road so they turned in a report. They first tried to give the owner a chance to remove it off the road, but no one was willing to admit they owned the car. So, the town had it towed away. Wonder if the owner ever went to claim his vehicle.

They say we might get more snow tomorrow into Monday. I hope the weather report is wrong. The snow banks are so high it is getting hard for the snow blower to reach that high and very hard to try and throw a shovel full up that high. I am ready for spring to get here.
I hear people saying this winter reminds them of the old winters when they were small.Sometimes I feel the same way. I just do not remember having the weeks of warmer weather in the middle of winter that makes the snow bank melt down and start building all over again with the next snow storm like it did this year. Maybe my mind has forgotten that, but what I remember is the banks just kept getting higher and higher and they didn`t seem to lower until spring. I remember what they call Indian summers only lasting about three or four days, not as many days as it seems to last in recent winters.

----------Remembering the styles of Clothing back in the 30`s and 40`s---------

But one thing that has improved greatly is the clothing that is allowed in school today. Still not sure how I feel about wearing pant-suits to Church, but allowing girls to wear slacks, etc. to school is a wonderful change. I was surprised when in later years they started allowing jeans worn in Church.
Years ago we were not allowed to cover our legs. Leotards had not been invented, neither did we have knee high socks yet. It was dresses and short thin bobby socks with fold down cuff tops that just went above the ankles leaving the legs bare from the ankles to just above the knees. I remember how that cold winter wind would make your legs so cold you lost the feelings in them and Oh, how they would ache once they started warming up again when you went inside a building. Now boys were lucky as their clothing also changed, but for the better. Those knee high pants or knee knockers as some called them, became foot length covering their entire legs and so their legs were better protected from the cold winter weather and freezing winds. We walked a mile each way-including lunch time- making a 4 mile total walk every day starting at the age of 5 in First grade. When I first started school some boys were still wearing the knee knocker pants so there legs were only a little more protected than the girls legs were, but some of the boys had already started wearing the new long length pants. I still have one of my grade school class pictures showing boys wearing both styles.I often wonder if that leg freezing over so many school years might be why so many have leg problems when they are older.

So there was a good change in clothing styles that helped the boys when I was young. It may have taken years to allow girls the same leg protection, but time did bring that good change also.
Hopefully there might be less leg problems for the future generations. They often say that History repeats itself. Let`s hope not where the bare leg clothing comes back into style for winter wear.