> > I'm sure Howard would have something to say on this subject too, when he reads it.
>
> I certainly can't pass up this thread. You are all so blessed with youth! After the second 30 years, things will begin to change again just like they did in your third decade. I was born in 1933, so I must have turned 30 in 1963. That's the year our third child was born. This is not the same world it was in 1963. I couldn't possibly have pictured myself in 2004, siting here in this house, typing on a machine that had not been invented yet, communicating with people all over the world instantly.
>
> I just heard our first child come in upstairs, so I will continue this later.
> Howard

That was a pleasant interruption several hours ago. Down here in the basement I have learned to reconize the footsteps of people who come in the kitchen door. That clump clump was our first-born son, Ed, who turns 48 next spring. He always wears boots. He lives almost an hour away, but comes by regularly. I expect him back tomorrow (Christmas) morning. We will have a crowd for dinner, but we never know for sure how many. Down here in Dixie, dinner can be the noon meal, but we are aiming more for 1:00 o'clock.

Now where were we? Oh, yes. The birthday thing. A lot of famous people were born on December 24th. In addition to Grishny, there is my big sister, Maxine, who is currently in Florida with her new husband. She was born this date in 1931. And there is Bob, who taught in the same school that I did. I guess he must be about 65 now. On a sad note, Bob lost his mother-in-law today, just a few days short of her 98th birthday.

People are living longer these days so most of you whippersnappers have a long life ahead of you. Take care of the old body, you may be using it for a long time.

I guess I started out to tell about how different the world is now. Travel is easier, but less of an adventure. When I was a tot, my Uncle Jim took a trip Out West. He and two friends drove a 1934 Dodge across the country to the Pacific Ocean and back. I remember listening to his stories of the Painted Desert, Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Bad Lands and such. I think I was the only kid in the fifth grade who knew how to pronounce Yosemite. At that time it was a black and white picture in a geography book. None of us ever expected to go there, because there was a war on and we could only travel as far as we could walk.

When I was born, passenger planes had two propeller engines and carried about ten passengers. Their speed was about 20% of the speed of a modern jet. Trains were powered by steam, and cars were slow and uncomfortable. They wore out in 25% of the miles we expect today. Highways were mostly two lane blacktop with no white line down the side. Guard rails were used only in the worst places in the mountains and people stayed overnight in tourist camps. But the war stopped that when gasoline was rationed and an "A"card only got you three gallons a week.

In the early 1930's, the most modern things in the world were autogyros and blimps. But those were only pictures in books for most of us. I saw a blimp in 1948, and I'm still looking for an autogyro.

There was no television. The first one I saw was in 1951. I was almost 18.

Nothing was air conditioned in those days. My first experience with air conditioning was 1949 when I went into a Woolworths 5 & 10 and found it amazingly cool on a hot day. I rode in an air conditioned car in 1954, but never owned on until 1972. We stuck an air conditioner into the wall of our house in 1963.

I have lived in houses with the bathroom in the back yard, but most of my life was spent with indoor plumbing. In 1971, I moved into this house, which was my first home with two bathrooms. It now has three, for only two people! All of us are living pretty good when you look at how things used to be.

One last thing. Old people used to be limited by their physical condition. In these modern times, we can take better care of ourselves and it is not uncommon to see people in their 80 traveling all over the world. People in their 70's are hiking and biking. Some ride motor scooters or motor cycles. People in their 60's compete in foot races, many running ten kilometers non-stop. Retirement is no longer a time to sit and rock. Grandma Clay died at 72, in 1954. She had been bed-fast for seven years. That was a long life in the 1950's. Not today.
Howard