Pioneer Woman Reject, Part II

Well, surprisingly enough, we are at home for the evening. I guess the below freezing wind chills and snow flurries were enough even for our head track coach. He decided to move the meet to Wednesday which is calling for a 68 degree high. I don't really know if the weather or the NCAA Championship game was his motive, but either way I like his thinking. Because of this wonderful gift from Coach Carney, we are enjoying the evening in the warm, comfortable home of my in-laws watching North Carolina. Alex has become a big Tarheels fan in the past several years because of Tyler Hansbrough, the Missouri Boy. I have always enjoyed North Carolina and Duke, but Alex is not a Duke fan at all. I keep telling him that it is possible that the Cameron Crazies are named that because a distant relative was an important person in that area, but it doesn't sway his thinking.

In the late 1700's I had a 7x great-grandfather, John Heagerty, who left Ireland and settled in North Carolina. As far as we know he left every family member he had. We do not know his reason for leaving, but he married a Mary Cameron with Scottish roots. Later the Heagertys moved to Lawrence County, Missouri. When I read about our family's history (or any history for that matter) I often wonder how I would have survived, which brings me back to the blog that I promised. I know the Heagertys (and all pioneer families) were made of something I don't think I have. As discussed in my last blog, I know they had perseverance, determination and grit. When I think about what these people endured and how hard they worked, I am just not sure how I would have measured up. It's not that I am completely stupid or lazy, but I know that I am not the risk taker that would have been required to leave my comfortable home and most likely my entire family.

Leaving the comforts of my home would have been the biggest factor in me being a pioneer reject. While I am definitely not a risk taker and wind would have driven me slowly insane, I am really spoiled. (I prefer to think of it as blessed.) I really enjoy and appreciate my modern home. I also love being close to family. With this being said their are "things" besides the perseverance, determination and grit that I would not have had back in the days of pioneer women. These "things" have been part of the conversations I have had with different women in the past week about what we wouldn't want to be without. They aren't necessarily character traits, but we don't want to be without them all the same.
#1 Running water. I am the first to admit that I would not want to have to trek to the creek for the water needed to wash, clean, bathe and launder . I would certainly not want to go on the cold days when you had to break the ice and then haul it up to the house. Can you imagine not being able to take a relaxing hot bath just for the luxury of it? And let's not go there on being able to flush. (Especially for those of us who are up in the middle of the night!)
#2 Appliances. Now, we tended to lump the appliances all into one category, but if I could only have one, I think I would choose the washing machine. I realize that we would have less clothing back then, but let's think about this. You have to either haul water or scrub and wring at the creek. Either way, how clean do they really get? This seems like a lot of work to get semi-clean clothes. The chore of laundry with appliances is so dreaded anyway (because we know that it is never truly "caught up") I can't imagine making it even more work than it already is.
#3 Heat. I know that people had heat, but maybe I should be more specific. Heat that is evenly distributed throughout the house.
#4 Electricity. This is lower on the list than you might think, but I do think I could survive this one, except for the fact that my washing machine would need it to operate!
#5 Ibuprofen. I am not one for taking medicine of any type unless I absolutely have to. The older I get, though, the more appreciation I have for this little friend. It is amazing what those two little pills can do for you. There are just days when nothing has helped my tired, aching body more than ibuprofen. After a hard day's work, don't you know the pioneer women would have loved it, too?
#6 Epidurals. I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies the natural way and I would like to keep it that way. Even under the best of circumstances, on the first go around, Jeff would have passed out and unless we had a neighbor there I probably would have had to cut the cord myself. (He gets a little woozy around that kind of stuff.)

There are many other modern conveniences that I am quite attached to, but these items top the list. It remains difficult for me to believe that I would have survived quite so well. I have to thank the Lord all of the time for my husband. Even with all of the conveniences of modern life, I have been extremely whiny during the past couple of weeks. If we had lived back then, he may have left me behind to explore, seek fortune or fight in a war. That could take me down another whole road of things I don't think I would have survived very well, but I think you get the picture.
Suffice it to say, I am ready for warm weather to stay. Even though they are not crucial to my family's survival, baseball games, softball games and track meets are just so much more fun when you can sit back, relax and enjoy. Surely the pioneer women would agree.

Here are a couple of videos--kind of long--sorry about that! The first is of a nice hit Rachel had and the second is of our pioneer men hunting turkey in our yard.