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August 29, 2023
Growing Up In Bandera
By Glenn Clark
The Bandera Prophet
There are a number of things available in our modern times that I am thankful for not having in my younger days. Number one on my list would be a cell phone with internet capabilities. By the grace of God, I was born into this place before stuff like that was even invented. Humble beginnings made for a great life.
Imagine back in time, while I was riding down a road in the area and saw a man on a tractor plowing a field, or checking his livestock in the pasture. I knew who it was immediately, because we knew most everyone back when there were a lot less folks to know in Bandera. Now it's highly unlikely, but someone today might be able to do that very same thing, if by chance they would look up from their phone for a minute.
Back in the day, we could instantly recognize people by the vehicle they drove. I don't recall any duplicates in town, unlike today where there are many look-a-likes. The days are long gone when you could do your own car repair simply by stopping at the auto parts store. I doubt that baling wire plays any part in auto repair these days.
Life was so simple when I worked at a local service station. Fill 'er up? Regular or Ethyl? Check the oil? Let me clean that windshield!
Sometimes there was a challenge on a new model car trying to figure out where they had hidden the gas filler cap.
Could we be cursed due to all the modern day conveniences we enjoy? Any place or vehicle without air conditioning is almost unheard of in today's society. Makes you wonder as some people are seeking those old vehicles to restore to their original glory without any of the bells and whistles.
Members of earlier generations that I have known seemed to be less likely to complain when things are a bit uncomfortable. Maybe they heard from their elders how some of Bandera's earliest settlers lived in tents while the town of Bandera was being laid out.
Picture the youngest of your family members and try to imagine them living in a house or cabin with a dirt floor, and the only way to travel being horseback or in a wagon. The thought of carrying water from the river in buckets to fill cast iron pots on laundry day would be fatal to most, I'm sure. Sheer terror would be the reaction to using an outhouse and would surely bring out the protest signs in modern times where losing a cell phone signal is cause for panic.
As I watch the progress taking place at an ever increasing speed here in my later Growing Up In Bandera life, it appears to me that the problems being created in the name of making things better might soon be insurmountable. Maybe the artificial intelligence in the news these days will save us. Lord knows natural intelligence is disappearing at a rapid pace.
#385 2023
Imagine back in time, while I was riding down a road in the area and saw a man on a tractor plowing a field, or checking his livestock in the pasture. I knew who it was immediately, because we knew most everyone back when there were a lot less folks to know in Bandera. Now it's highly unlikely, but someone today might be able to do that very same thing, if by chance they would look up from their phone for a minute.
Back in the day, we could instantly recognize people by the vehicle they drove. I don't recall any duplicates in town, unlike today where there are many look-a-likes. The days are long gone when you could do your own car repair simply by stopping at the auto parts store. I doubt that baling wire plays any part in auto repair these days.
Life was so simple when I worked at a local service station. Fill 'er up? Regular or Ethyl? Check the oil? Let me clean that windshield!
Sometimes there was a challenge on a new model car trying to figure out where they had hidden the gas filler cap.
Could we be cursed due to all the modern day conveniences we enjoy? Any place or vehicle without air conditioning is almost unheard of in today's society. Makes you wonder as some people are seeking those old vehicles to restore to their original glory without any of the bells and whistles.
Members of earlier generations that I have known seemed to be less likely to complain when things are a bit uncomfortable. Maybe they heard from their elders how some of Bandera's earliest settlers lived in tents while the town of Bandera was being laid out.
Picture the youngest of your family members and try to imagine them living in a house or cabin with a dirt floor, and the only way to travel being horseback or in a wagon. The thought of carrying water from the river in buckets to fill cast iron pots on laundry day would be fatal to most, I'm sure. Sheer terror would be the reaction to using an outhouse and would surely bring out the protest signs in modern times where losing a cell phone signal is cause for panic.
As I watch the progress taking place at an ever increasing speed here in my later Growing Up In Bandera life, it appears to me that the problems being created in the name of making things better might soon be insurmountable. Maybe the artificial intelligence in the news these days will save us. Lord knows natural intelligence is disappearing at a rapid pace.
#385 2023