making hay

That saying, "Make hay while the sun shines" came to mind the other day. Here in the part of the country that we live, any of the following could occur all in the same day: wind, rain, snow, sun. Plus the temperature can fluctuate 30, 40 or 50 degrees in a matter of 24 hours. This has implications for many things, not the least of which is raising children.

How the pioneers or even people 50 or 75 years ago, who had 12 children all living in a house that would fit in our living and dining room with no Wal-Mart or Pamida to buy diapers because they used cloth ones or to buy groceries because they raised everything and stored in in the smoke house or the cellar, did it is completely beyond my comprehension. Plus they sewed all their clothes and blankets.

Even considering butchering a chicken for a meal would take me weeks to muster up the courage to want to eat fowl. Washing clothes with an all-automatic washer and dryer takes me all week - back then they washed each piece by hand. Did they just scrap the excess food off their kids after meals and scrub them up and let them dry in front of the wood stove all afternoon? I'm rather convinced that the only thing that went by itself in those days was the fire for a while after fresh wood was put in. Everything else required man or woman power.

The making hay thing originally came to mind as I was thinking yesterday about how many times we've missed getting outside when the sun was shining and the wind was down because I took for granted that the climate would be homogeous throughout the day. Tuesday night we made it just past our grove in taking a walk before I realized Priya desperately had to go to the bathroom. She had gotten off her bike and was gyrating around. Last night we made it just past the neighbors (just a few feet farther than our grove except in the opposite direction) before we made an about face on Anneka's terms: she had another agenda other than wearing a snowsuit and riding in a stroller and admiring the neighbors cats and dogs.

I guess it's kind of like life. If only we knew what opportunities to take advantage of right then because we might miss them. If only we knew what people we should definitely call when we thought of them because they needed the encouragement right then or that they might not be around to call tomorrow or next week.