Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The Simple Life

No, I am not talking about the show with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.  I am talking about times when it seemed that life was more simple.

Today I went to Colonial Day at Katie's school.  It's a day for all the 4th grade students to dress up as a profession from the colonial days and share with visitors.

As I walked around the room I was reminded of simpler times.  Not to say that life was easy back then (those folks worked hard) but there was such a simplicity that is so intriguing to me.

Whenever I watch a movie like Jane Austen flicks, I find myself desiring to live many years ago - and not just because I want to marry Mr. Darcy :-)

I want to spend my days cooking in a wood burning stove, practicing music, doing embroidery, and reading.  Oh, and writing letters.  I wish that I wrote more handwritten letters.

I have been fortunate enough to be able to spend time in some pretty primitive living conditions.  I really must say that some of my favorite times have been in villages.

Some of the best fish that I have ever eaten was in a Philippine fishing village.  Fish that was cooked by simply placing it on the roof and letting the sun bake it.

Some of the best bread that I have ever eaten was made in a Moroccan village.  It was cooked by being stuck to the inside of a clay oven.

Oh, and that one time that I ate the bread with butter that was made with milk that came straight from the cow.  I got to help churn that butter...bliss.

Now things just seem to be so complicated.  Microwaves, email, fast food, TV...the list goes on and on and on.  I am grateful for our advancements, but sometimes I just long for simplicity.

Some of my favorite "simple life" moments:


Drawing water from a well


Plucking a chicken


Spending some time living in a hut in a Sudanese refugee camp


The bathroom at the refugee camp (ok, so maybe not a "favorite" moment, but still pretty cool)


1 comment:

  1. and making yeast bread from scratch....yum...yum!
    Great memories and perspective. Thanks for sharing Mel!

    ReplyDelete

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