Shade Tree Wisdom 4/22/09

For some reason Walter Cronkite’s comment about retirement came to mind.  He said, “When you get up in the morning you don’t have a thing to do, and by noon, you‘re behind schedule.”              One of the grandsons had an assignment for class to write a history of his family.  He sought advice about names dates and so forth, and that set my mind to what our ancestors did.              Thy came to Milwaukee in 1839 and were invited to settle there.  But they elected to go further into the wilderness and buy some government land.  The forest was so dense they navigated by compass instead of the sun and stars which they couldn’t see through the heavy growth of trees.  They bought a large tract of land, and in the middle, they set aside forty acres for church, school, and cemetery.  (That forty acres, by the way, is still being used for that purpose today).  They cut timber and set to work building cabins, and by that winter most of them, of the forty families involved, were under roof.  And by spring they had cleared six acres so they could plant some crops and vegetable gardens.              One Psalm that came often to their mind was the twenty seventh and especially verse fourteen, ‘Wait on the Lord; be strong and take heart, and wait on the Lord.”              Of necessity they were thrifty and careful of their environment.  A lesson we are even now trying to teach again, use less, save what you do not need, don’t get careless in use of materials.  TURN OFF LIGHTS not being used!  Some of you may remember how commentators thought it was funny when President Johnson did that at the White House!              Now we are starting to read articles about how this generation is learning such lessons again, thrift, making do, using up instead of throwing out or simply buying too much, or unneeded stuff.  One who can still afford it says, “We don’t buy purses for one thousand dollars any more, because it simply is too much”.  Another has the dog groomed once a month instead of each other week.  And Americans are starting to save.  Many hope the lessons learned will stay with us.              The serious times have led to closer family ties, more families eating dinner at home more often, carrying lunch to work, not buying unless they can pay cash.  And one interesting side light in this time is that charities are seeing more volunteers to help dish out meals or sort clothes and help in other ways.              So maybe the times prove a blessing as well.  Let me quote from Psalm 27: The Lord is my light and my salvation, Who shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, Of who shall I be afraid? Vv.1.2. GPD 4/22/09