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The problem in defence is how far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without.


Getting dark. Corner of Sandy Bay Road and Hampdon Road, Battery Point. July 2012.

Theme Thursday and this week is one for RECOLLECTIONS. You know, memories. Nostalgia. Remembering. Recall.

A time when everyone was nicer. Everyone was more moral, ethical. More polite, more genuine, more reliable. People were hardworking. Kids were considerate. Men were made of sterner stuff and women had more respect for themselves.

Communities stuck together. Things had value and people valued things other than things. People had values and values meant something. A dollar was a dollar, a pound was a pound and we all knew where we stood.

You remember. Streets were clean. Men doffed their caps, women demurred with grace. Children feared the consequences of things and our leaders had a firm grip on the whip hand.

Times were good. Things were hard but people were harder. People were more resilient. Tougher. Leaner. Meaner. Life was a challenge but we were better at rising to challenges. Dissenters knew their place and we were all better for it.

Well, some of us.

Yeah. RECOLLECTIONS.

Remember, the most important part of remembering is the forgetting.
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Comments

Grace said…
Those were the days ~ I would like to believe though that we can pass on to our children the values that matter to us and that we think they should carry on ~
9 August 2012 at 20:25
Vaccinius said…
You are right. People were tougher. The problem of today is shamelessness.
10 August 2012 at 01:16
joanne said…
You have summed up all that was good about people in the past....But certainly, there was much about the treatment of women by society that has been much improved by 'progress'...
10 August 2012 at 01:58
Susan said…
The whole time I was reading I was trying to remember those days, but it all finally clicked when I got to your ingenious last line:

"Remember, the most important part of remembering is the forgetting"

it all clicked! You are right! If I try really hard I can remember it just as you say! Wonderful satire.
10 August 2012 at 03:01
Mrsupole said…
Wasn't that just last week that we were like that. I sometimes think that everyone thinks what was is better than what is, without realizing that now is just different than yesterday.

Although the one thing I do worry about is how there are so many single women, or should I say single girls, are having babies. And most of the babies have different fathers or sperm donors, since they are not there to help raise these children. To me that somehow just shows a lack of respect for women and their children, or a lack of self respect that these young girls have for themselves.

Somehow they do not realize that they are just letting themselves be used by what I call dumb ass men who seem to try to make babies with as many different "Mommies" as they can. It seems to have turned into a sport amongst the young men here in the USA. And most of the men or boys who do this are a product of a home with a single mom and I think they have no respect for females. I just do not understand how everyone has become so accepting of this attitude. Maybe we should try to remember the times when most children had both a father and a mother raising them.

Your children are very blessed indeed.

I do love the last part.

God bless.
10 August 2012 at 10:04
Kathy Reed said…
I think each generation thinks similar things about their pasts, behavior of people in the old days...you touch a topic much can be said about...society...refreshing points you make!
12 August 2012 at 03:31
Roddy said…
I remember as you grew up, Jason asked what was wrong with our family. You both had a mother and father. Not a mother and many uncles.
Did you remember that it was our 39th wedding anniversary yesterday?
Look after those babies of yours and teach them the right way.
12 August 2012 at 11:38
Kris McCracken said…
Thanks all. Please don't forget to note the tongue in my cheek!
12 August 2012 at 12:40
Dulcina said…
I agree with everything you long for, those days when we were happier with fewer things.
I especially like when you say Things were hard but people were harder.
Some of us, yes!
:)
12 August 2012 at 16:53
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