Way back when I was just starting this journey of life I wanted to be old, say 16 or 18. I sure didn't want to be old like 69 which I am. Old like 69 when one is young is the same as dead and gone. No, I wanted to be old enough to drive or at least to drive legally. Most everyone where I grew up drove out in the country. We didn't drive on the main roads, but we sure drove out where we lived.

Looking back I had a great childhood. I grew up where parents actually took time to spend with the kids. One thing back then, the kids helped the parents get the work done, so we helped milk the cows, slop the hogs, gather the eggs, feed the cattle and the chickens, and the list went on and on. So on a daily basis we spent time with our parents. There was TV, but it wasn't much and only partially worked so it didn't take much of our time.

We knew better than to get crosswise with Mom and Dad. Dad could unbuckle his belt and drag it out of his belt loops in a heartbeat, and he knew what to do with it. Mom always seemed to have a fly swatter handy and then there was those old granny shoes she wore. And we also knew if we acted up while staying with an aunt or uncle or a neighbor or a friend, we'd get a whooping from them and a whooping when we got home.

But there were times we tested our caretakers like Mom and Dad and grandparents and such. We'd stretch their patience and we'd see how far we could get before they'd had enough. But one thing we knew was we didn't disrespect those who we thought were old, the elders if you will. I really wish I could go back when I was say 10 or so and talk to my grandparents or Ted and Mary Frye or Wilsie Cross or Johanna and Bertie and ask what kind of kid I really was. Was I a smart aleck brat or was I a good kid? I'd like to ask them if I should have had more whoopings. I like to fantasize and think I was a good kid but I kind of wonder.

Now that I'm on the other side of life I'm looking at those 10-or-so-year-olds and wondering if I acted like they act. How did I act? We had the opportunity to be around a 12-year-old young man a while back, and he was outstanding. Courteous and respectful to both of us and his grandma. Nice young man. Says a lot about his parents. Got to visiting with his grandma and come to find out we knew his grandpa. Nice guy. Comes from a good home.

Back when I was growing up, there were chores to do and farm and ranch work. Summers were spent getting the hay up in stacks or fixing fence or gardening. Dad would make sure once a week or so we'd go fishing for bullheads or bass or perch or walleyes or white bass. Every now and then we'd all load up in the car and go visit a neighbor or some relative. Phones hung on the wall and there weren't any remotes for the TV.

Kids today are growing up different. Most are growing up without a clue as to where our food comes from. Someone mentioned a week ago her kids didn't know the difference between pork and beef. That's like not knowing the difference between "sic 'em" and "sooie." If I was betting, most of our youth and kids don't know that either. Most have never been around and watched someone make bread. Watch the bread rise and then bake it and then sample a slice of bread right from the oven. Or watch and even help someone render lard and end up with cracklings. Add a little salt and they are mighty tasty.

Kids today know cell phones and computer stuff and Wi-Fi and stuff I don't have a clue. Honestly, I've never been able to program a recorder for TV shows. Kids get their food at restaurants and grocery stores or online through the mail. Someone was telling Marge a while back how they ordered some of their groceries from Amazon. I'm not surprised, but I'm surprised I'm not surprised, if that makes sense. One kind of expects stuff like that. Food today is instant stuff that you kind of heat up and it's ready or it comes from a fast food joint.

Marge cooked supper the other evening and it was all from scratch. I was making pork jerky so there were a lot of small odds and end pieces which she fried. We had some crooked neck squash, so she also cut them up and sauteed them. She also sliced some new potatoes and put them in the toaster oven. Add some tomatoes and it was quite a meal. For us older folks this was normal cooking. For the younger generation it was foreign. Took too long. Many wouldn't have even tried it.

Dad was born in the first part of the 1900s and died back in the 1970s. He went from horse and buggy to cars to airplanes to rockets. He was here during WWI and II and Korea and Vietnam. I was born in 1950 so I've been around mankind walking on the moon and newer cars and a general food revelation. Our grandkids were born around the year 2000, and they have witnessed a technological revolution. Still hard to believe Marge was texting a friend of ours in California like she was next door. They could just as easily have dialed up and talked or even have done the face time thing. Kind of unreal. Growing up, the only way to get the news was on the radio. TV came along later, but the old AM station was still the go-to for news. Newspapers were big back then. Most seem to get their news on TV or the internet.

Youth today are looking forward to life and all they can accomplish. I don't believe many of them know who they are or what they want to do, kind of like us back when we were young. Most likely they will make some real bummer mistakes just like we did. Some will get crosswise with the law and make a real mess of things like some of us did back then. Some will go to college or join the service or just stay at home with Mom and Dad, just like when we were kids.

Hopefully most of them will grow up and become solid citizens of this United States. Be awesome, if they are meant to find a wife or husband, they find the right one to spend their lives with. And if they are privileged enough to have kids, they raise them up right so they respect God and country.