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Idaho, books, and The Past
Aug. 23rd, 2010 09:27 pmIf you met my grandmother-in-law you would see a very well-read and intelligent woman who is quiet, refined, and musically talented. I mean, she didn't retire from teaching piano until a few years ago, when she was 91. On the surface you'd never guess some of her other talents--like raising 10 kids in a cabin up in the mountains
with the bears and raging creeks to play with in the summer and four feet of snow (or more--a LOT more) in the winter. Son 2 really wanted to see the site of the old sawmill my grandfather-in-law ran up in the Tetons, so we went out there today, and my FIL showed us where he did fun stuff as a kid, like the rock where he used to set things on fire, and the hole he carved out in the church doorway, "just because" (his dad was bishop and apparently Not Amused at the time), and oh yes, the creek DH fell in when he was 7 or 8 and they had a hard time getting him out because it was running high and fast.
Anyway, my grandmother-in-law must have felt the same desperation for books I do because apparently she sent her children's ages and interests to the Idaho State Library and got them to check out boxes of books and mail them to her way out in the wilds. My own mother (who lived in the more populated Snake River Valley) tells about going to the library as a kid and being able to check out one book. ONE. And you didn't get to pick, either, and if you didn't like that book or if you'd already read it, tough. But at least she could go get it herself!
The Past, you see, is not very far away in places like this. My mother and my in-laws can all tell you about farming in the Old Days, and outhouses, and sleighs taking you to school, and log cabins. They're about one generation away from the REALLY old days. My dad, on the other hand, is the oldest of all of them (he turned 87 this year)--but he's from New Jersey (with Czech New Yorker parents), and all those things sound just as old-fashioned and remote to him as they do to you. I suspect there are plenty of other places like this in the US, but they do not show up on the radar of either Hollywood or the 212 (publishing area code in NYC).
Other things we saw:( Read more... )
I still have a bunch of things to do to get ready for school, which starts on Wednesday. But all in all, it was a good day.
with the bears and raging creeks to play with in the summer and four feet of snow (or more--a LOT more) in the winter. Son 2 really wanted to see the site of the old sawmill my grandfather-in-law ran up in the Tetons, so we went out there today, and my FIL showed us where he did fun stuff as a kid, like the rock where he used to set things on fire, and the hole he carved out in the church doorway, "just because" (his dad was bishop and apparently Not Amused at the time), and oh yes, the creek DH fell in when he was 7 or 8 and they had a hard time getting him out because it was running high and fast.
Anyway, my grandmother-in-law must have felt the same desperation for books I do because apparently she sent her children's ages and interests to the Idaho State Library and got them to check out boxes of books and mail them to her way out in the wilds. My own mother (who lived in the more populated Snake River Valley) tells about going to the library as a kid and being able to check out one book. ONE. And you didn't get to pick, either, and if you didn't like that book or if you'd already read it, tough. But at least she could go get it herself!
The Past, you see, is not very far away in places like this. My mother and my in-laws can all tell you about farming in the Old Days, and outhouses, and sleighs taking you to school, and log cabins. They're about one generation away from the REALLY old days. My dad, on the other hand, is the oldest of all of them (he turned 87 this year)--but he's from New Jersey (with Czech New Yorker parents), and all those things sound just as old-fashioned and remote to him as they do to you. I suspect there are plenty of other places like this in the US, but they do not show up on the radar of either Hollywood or the 212 (publishing area code in NYC).
Other things we saw:( Read more... )
I still have a bunch of things to do to get ready for school, which starts on Wednesday. But all in all, it was a good day.
