Wednesday, February 21, 1951

LONG VALLEY -- Listening to Clead Crawford harp on the “good old days” yesterday made me wonder how good those days really were.

I don’t go back 80 years like Old Man Crawford does. Still, when I put my mind to it, I can remember some of the things small-town folks had to put up with when I was a boy.

The old iron stoves, and all the wood chopping and coal hauling it took to keep the house warm. The muddy unpaved streets, the coal oil lamps with wicks that always needed trimming. The well, and the pump on the back poch that froze inwinter. And the rest of the outdoor plumbing --- somehow I don’t seem to miss those thing so much.

One reason some people are always talking about the past, I figure, is that it’s so safe. As long as you’re living in the past you don’t have to worry about how things are going to turn out. You already know. Good or bad, it’s over and odne with. You can remember only the good things about it, if that makes you happier.

Myself, I’ve always thought today and tomorrow are more important than yesterday --- especially tomorrow.