Imagine putting your family in a covered wagon, saying "Bye, I don't know if I'll ever see any of you again!" to your extended family, and then slowly starting the trek across the United States.
1. Hungry? CATCH some supper. Eat some dried something. Find water. No candy bars.
2. Personal hygiene? There's creek-- use some sand. We don't have Charmin....we don't even have a Sears' catalog. Shampoo....scape some bar soap into some warm water....but first, go build the fire to heat the water. Cook your own soap from lard. Get the lard from the pig you butchered. Raise the pig. Dang....planning ahead is important. No Pantene.
3. Traveling? Rand McNally didn't have my atlas done. How the heck do you ford a creek let alone ford something like a river? AND who crossed the Mississippi first? No signs. No Wendy's. No Mickey D's!
4. Inner Strength? What do you mean there are fleas in the wagon? What do you mean I have drive the oxen? What do you mean there's no place to have a mani-pedi? Oh, ick! Flies, gnats, mosquitos, ticks, spiders....and the list goes on.
5. Critters? See #4. Where the deer and the antelope play....and the mice and the snakes....and the beavers and the wolves. Buffalo....big, big buffalo.
6. Sleeping? Can you imagine the sounds of the prairie? From coyotes to owls....it would have been loud....with those spooky nature sounds that make you think they have come to eat you. But, worry not, you probably smelled so ripe any animal in his right mind would say, "I'll pass."
7. Entertainment? I'm too tired to sing around the campfire and the satellite tv doesn't work. WHOA! I've got to sew your clothes-- but first I need to weave the cloth? Get back, Jack.
8. Unknown stuff....this includes strangers, bears, famine, plague, Native Americans, big rivers.....you can put anything you want in this category.
9. Bug Bites? Fleas, flies, chiggers, spiders, ants, to name a few! See #4....this one seems to be a favorite of mine.
10. General Angst? The unknown.
The prairie grasses waved higher than our ancestors' heads. The forests were thick with trees and underbrush. Game was plentiful. Their futures ahead.....thousands of miles ahead. The pioneers were bringing everything they needed including a mind set of "It can be done." Tough folks-- yep, tough as boiled owls!
And we're not even going to talk about Donner Pass.
The prairie grasses waved higher than our ancestors' heads. The forests were thick with trees and underbrush. Game was plentiful. Their futures ahead.....thousands of miles ahead. The pioneers were bringing everything they needed including a mind set of "It can be done." Tough folks-- yep, tough as boiled owls!
And we're not even going to talk about Donner Pass.
No comments:
Post a Comment