Books filled with a wealth of information
As I am writing this article, Mother’s Day had just past, and Father’s Day is fast approaching. Really what I would like to try to say today has nothing to do with either celebration.
Have you ever wanted to know something and wondered where to go to get the answer? Well an encyclopedia is a very good source to get information. However, if the encyclopedia is like mine, which will turn 30 this year, that information may not be too reliable, even if you should find the subject matter you’re looking for. I expect the when my encyclopedias left the prints, it was current, but by the time it was shipped and arrived, and I opened and got it out of the box, removed the brown protective paper from around each of the 22 volumes, I’d say my new encyclopedias, were already out of date.
When I was in high school I think we got new textbooks every four years. Textbooks took a lot of abrasive wear, but the main reason for new history and science textbooks was because of the rapid change in what was taught in those subjects. I graduated high school May 19, 1960, a date to remember, at least by me and about 80 others who were members of that class.
Back even before, the science textbooks were teaching that in future years citizens of the United States would be flying their own helicopter and would build flat-topped houses as a pad for which to land their helicopters.
As we all know, that prediction never materialized. I have seen only one helicopter pad in this state (private wise). It was on the shores of Old Hickory Lake, behind the house of Grand Ole Opry star, Lynn Anderson. I’m not sure if the pad is still there, but this is just an example of predictions that didn’t materialize.
I have been thinking recently about the amount of history that is ‘buried’ every day. I’ll bet there is not a person that has not said, at one time or another, ‘I wished I had asked him. . .’ I can just hear some people’s reply, I’ve never been guilty of that. But be that as it may, I believe there comes a time when we all should set down with the older folks of the family and see what they have to say.
My mother died one month past my tenth birthday. Losing her physically wasn’t all that was lost. She most likely would have answers to questions no one else could answer. We have cell phones and answering machines, so we communicate more ‘ or do we? There is a song on the radio which has these words, ‘If there is a telephone in heaven, put my momma on the line.’ First of all telephones are materialistic. When we leave this old world we will be freed from materialistic stuff, no matter how much we wish to hold on to them.
And secondly, isn’t it so sad that some of us wait until it’s too late talk to a loved one?