Pages

Sunday, January 18, 2015

13 Things We Need to Learn From Our Ancestors


For many of us our parents, grandparents, or even great grandparents knew how to do things about which we have no idea or no desire to learn. While I can see the argument that we have advanced beyond the need of these basic skills, I respectfully disagree. We don't have to leave these skills as they are per say,  but can modify them to fit our modern lives and be all the better for them. I was extremely blessed in that I not only was able to know my grandparents from both sides, but also had 3 great grandmothers that I was able to meet and get to know. My grandparents were children or young teens during the Great Depression. Their memories of that time shaped their entire lives and how they looked at the things they owned. My great grandmothers were all adults during the Great Depression, so they saw things from a different light as well. I loved all of their stories and the lessons they taught. I am going to try to share a few nuggets of wisdom they taught me.


1. The Little Things Matter

I remember one of my great grandmothers telling me a story about how my great grandfather brought home some honey comb one day. He had found a bee tree while he was out in the woods. He cut the tree down and robbed the bees. I don't know how much honey he was able to bring home, but I do remember the look on my great grandmother's face when she talked about the next morning having biscuits with fresh honey. She said it was the best honey she had ever tasted. We take so many thing for granted today that we have lost a lot of joy from a simple surprise.

2. Make Everything Last as Long as You Can

My grandfather used to tell all of us kids that we should be thankful for everything we had. He only got one new pair of shoes a year and that was in the fall before school started. They only wore their shoes to school and to church most times because that would wear them out faster. By the time the next year rolled around those shoes were history, either outgrown or destroyed by use. Half of the summer the boys went barefoot everywhere they went, yup even church. 

Clothes were always patched or repaired until they couldn't be fixed any more. Part of this practice made it all the way to me. I remember wearing pants with patches on the knees. I actually have a couple of pairs right now that could use a patch or two. 

Even after clothing became too far gone to repair they were not thrown away. They would become patches for other clothing, dish cloths, or even rags for use in cleaning or repairing things around the home. It wasn't until there was no use left in the cloth at all that they were thrown away. Talk about re-purposing things, they were masters. 

3. Never Be Wasteful 

I will confess that sometimes when I am putting things into the compost pile or feeding leftovers to the chickens, I feel a little guilty. Even though I know that I am putting those scraps to another use and I know that they are helping our little part of the world be more productive, the fact still stands that we cooked more food than our family ate. 


I don't know if you have ever heard of Jerry Clower, but he tells this story well.


The lesson of never being wasteful does not just apply to food. My grandfather kept every nail, nut, bolt, and screw that he had ever bought. The last thing we always did after working on something was to walk around the area and make sure that we didn't drop anything that could be used in the future. He always had boards or pieces of metal around and most things that we needed to do, we could find the supplies around the barn to get it done without having to run to the hardware store. 

4. Never be Envious 

This may vary from family to family, but once again I remember the stories. When electricity came through our small community one of my great grandmothers talked about going to the only house that had it put in. She talked about the light and how they didn't have to feel around for matches, but she also talked about how worried she was that they would get used to this new thing and not be able to pay their bill. She put off getting electricity for a couple of years before she was willing to pay the 15 cents a month power bill. Yup, 15 cents a month and she was worried that her neighbors wouldn't be able to pay the bill.

5. Be a Reliable Family Member or Friend

I cannot remember any of my great grandmothers driving. Anytime they needed to go anywhere, someone in the family would take them. They never had to worry about being left to fend for themselves. Great grandmother Humphries was so afraid of storms that if she even heard it thunder she would call and have my grandparents come and get her so she could be close to their basement. 

If my parents needed to go somewhere and needed someone to look after me, one of them were always available. I cannot tell you how many times I have played with a set of dominoes that my great grandmother kept on top of her cabinet. 

6. Pitch in and Help

Every late summer and early fall when the crops started coming in the whole family would converge on my grandparents' house. This was especially true when the sweet corn was coming in. All of the men and boys would be in the field pulling corn till it was all gathered. Then we would pull the trailer up to the side of the house and we would start shucking the ears of corn. As soon as there were a couple of pans shucked my great grandmothers would start silking the corn. Then it would go to the younger ladies to cook and cut the corn. Everyone, and I do mean everyone had a job. Even the small children would pick up the shucks and throw them to the cows. It was a great system and everyone was working for the benefit of everyone.



7. Be Content

My great grandparents never had a lot. They didn't have fine china, they didn't have fancy cloths, heck they didn't even have a car, but they were happy. I remember when one of my great grandmothers moved out of her old house and into a single wide trailer. She didn't complain about not having as much room, in fact the only thing that I remember her saying was how much easier it was to heat and how thankful she was for an air conditioner.

8. Work Your Garden

My Great Grandmother Carter worked in her garden until the year she died. She had the most beautiful roses that I have ever seen. She just knew what and how to do to make them shine. All three of my great grandmothers had something outside that was their passion. One was her pear tree and the blackberries, one her roses and vegetable garden. The other was a vegetable garden and fruit trees, primarily a massive fig tree. All three lived into their 90's and all three stayed active in both body and mind. Working a garden is not only healthy and light exercise it is also very therapeutic. 

9. Have Redundancies

Here is a statement I remember, but I cannot remember who said it,
"Just because you have city water doesn't mean you fill up your well."
For many this statement may not make much sense so I will try to explain. Our little community didn't get city water, or water from a utilities company until I was a child. When the water lines came through the utilities company of course tried to convince everyone that they needed to abandon their wells and be tied to the lines. Lots of people did just that. They capped or filled their wells and were hooked onto the system. There were a few though that refused outright to be on city water. There were others like my grandparents that hooked up to city water, but kept their well and just re plumbed their system so that the well water went were they wanted it to. One year there was a major problem with the water system and the community went without water for a couple of days. Well most of the community did. Those that were either still on the well or still had the well as back up went on as if nothing had happened.

If you will think about it every old country home had oil lamps and a variety of things that enabled them to get through whatever the world threw at them. This is still a great idea for today.

10. Be Willing to Barter and Trade

My great, great grandfather was a self taught country doctor. We still have a couple of books that he studied from and even have his ledger. Paper money is a fairly new creation and it really only serves those who have it. In my ancestor's ledger you can see that he was paid with a pig, chickens, even getting to pick up a gallon of mild once a week for a year. He served everyone in his community without regards of their ability to pay with money. These people his friends and neighbors paid him with whatever they had. Some even paid him in labor on his own farm. Just think about how much better a world it would be if we were not so fixated on currency and paid more attention to the things that have true value no matter what were to happen to the economy of stock market.

11. Pay Attention to Nature

My grandfather could tell you hours in advance when it was going to rain, when it was going to be hot, dry, or cold. He would predict with as good accuracy as the weatherman what the winter or summer would be like. How did he do it? He knew that nature knows the weather patterns long before we do. He had learned over the years and listening to those who were much older than him what things meant. The way animals and plants act will tell you a little about what to expect from the weather.

12. Know as Many Skills as Possible

My grandmother could sew clothes, cook and incredible meal, and shoot a crow in the field. Everyone knew multiple skills. Very few people specialized. There was a good reason for this. When something broke down you couldn't just call a repairman. You had to do as much as you could for yourself.

13. Always Be Thankful

It is so easy to get wrapped up in whatever is happening at the moment, but we must take time to be thankful for all of the blessings in our lives. I remember my grandfather talking about a Christmas where all they received as a gift was a nickle's worth of hard candy split by 6 children and an orange each. That was one of his favorite Christmases and he told that story often.

I remember my one of my great grandmothers being so happy every time we came over and we did so fairly often. Saying the blessing over the meal was not optional and after you reached a certain age you were not allowed to just recite some generic prayer.

I do not know if my dad started this or not, but it has left an impact on me that I will never forget. Every time we would plant the garden as the first seeds hit the ground he would say "We sow in hope and we will reap in joy". Think about that for a moment. There are few things that illustrate faith better than the sowing of seeds. Honestly, everything we do should be done in hope and we will receive our reward with joy.

sunday social feat 200Tuesdays with a Twist Featured

I wish you all Rural Dreams and Homestead Wishes

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required


You can like The Rural Economist on Facebook follow on The Rural Economist on Gplus. We now have a YouTube channel and we cover all sorts of things. Hop on over and check them out, oh and don't forget to subscribe. I have just joined Instagram if you would like you can follow us HERE. We will be sharing several things over the next year, I hope to see you there. 

Check out The Rural Economist on Pinterest




Affiliate Link Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive compensation for links, endorsements, testimonials, or recommendations for any products mentioned on this blog. Any time you use one of our links for Amazon, if you purchase something The Rural Economist receives a small commission and it doesn't cost you any more. Even if you do not purchase the items I list. In this way you will help support us trying to teach people about self reliance and homesteading. Thanks for your consideration.

19 comments:

  1. Herbal treatment is 100% guaranteed for HSV1-2 cure, the reason why most people are finding it difficult to cure HSV1-2 is because they believe on medical reports, drugs and medical treatment which is not helpful to cure HSV1-2. Natural roots/herbs are the best remedy which can easily eradicate herpes forever, for more information about herpes cure Please write Dr. Oselumen for any health challenge. God bless you.Email: droselumen@gmail.com or Whatsapp: +2348054265852 

    ReplyDelete
  2. The greatest Joy in my life today is that i have been cured of Herpes by a Doctor called Dr Ogudugu, I was infected with HERPES Disease in 2019, i went to many hospitals for cure but there was no solution, so I was thinking how can I get a solution,so that my body can be okay. Until one faithful day as i was browsing on the internet I saw a testimony on how Dr Ogudugu has helped people in curing Herpes and other diseases, quickly copied his WhatsApp number so i contacted him for solution for my Herpes disease, So Dr Ogudugu told me that his going to prepare his herbal medicine for my health which he sent to me, luckily after 2week my Herpes was cured. Dr Ogudugu is well recognize as one of the best herbalist doctor in Africa, you don't have to be sad anymore or cry anymore on this disease when the cure is available. The medicine has NO SIDE EFFECT,there's no special diet when taking the medicine. He also cure ALS, HIV AIDS, CANCER, HPV, DIABETES and lots more.
    For enquiries:
    E-mail: greatogudugu@gmail.com
    WhatsApp: +2348063739701

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was infected with Genital Herpes Virus six months ago, ever since then i have been searching for cure everywhere because i was feeling so uncomfortable with it. I have been dating for almost 5 years until i contracted Genital Herpes from my ex-boyfriend. Since then i became very sad about the whole situation, always going online checking if i could get a cure to Genital Herpes, then i came across so many testimonies. Due to my seriousness and eagerness to be completely cured, i became a victim of fraud after contacting several so-called herbal doctors i was referred to. I lost a lot of money but i didn't stop searching for a cure. Then one faithful day, i came across a testimony of a lady saying that she got her Genital herpes cured by a Great Herbal Doctor she called Dr Ogudugu by contacting him through his email address. And she advised anyone with Genital Herpes or Simplex Herpes to contact the herbal doctor for Herbal Cure. I contemplated for about 4 hours whether or not to contact him. then something inside of me told me 'Nothing good comes easy'. I then contacted him through his email and told him my problem. He told me all the things I needed to do and also gave me instructions to follow, which i did properly. Just within weeks of drinking and applying the herbal medication he sent to me through dhl delivery service, i started seeing changes, i went to my medical doctor for check-up, i was so happy when the doctor told me i was no more having Genital Herpes Virus, it was all tears of Joy from that moment, People think herpes is really a minor skin irritation herpes has a long term effects on health and if i could ever meet a Genuinely Great Herbal Doctor. I'm so grateful to him. i am completely free from Genital Herpes Virus, i introduced a family friend who have Simplex Herpes virus to him, He called me and told me he was also cure completely. I promised to share my own testimony like that of the lady on the internet. Friends, if you are also struggling with Herpes disease you can as well Contact him via Email: greatogudugu@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello everyone, I am so glad to write this article today to tell the world how Dr Ogudugu cured my (HSV VIRUS),I have been detected with (HSV-1&2) since 6years ago, ever since then my life has been incomplete bizarre and agony, I have used so many drugs that was prescribed to me by several doctors, but it didn't cure my (HSV VIRUS) neither did it reduce the pain, until a certain day i was checking for solution on the internet, then miraculously i came across Dr Ogudugu the powerful herbalist that cure numerous individuals (HSV-1 & HSV-2, HPV 1&2 INFECTIONS). Then I contacted him and explained everything to him, and he prepared a herbal medicine for me that cured my (HSV-1&2) disease totally after taking his herbal medicine as instructed. I'm so happy and glad that I'm back to normal again. So viewers why waiting and being in pain when there's someone like Dr Ogudugu that cured different diseases. So contact him via https://droguduguherbs.online or email : greatogudugu@gmail.com or WhatsApp him +2348063739701.,,THANKS

    ReplyDelete
  5. Herbal medicine work like magic very active give it a try please help me share am very happy today thank you so much Dr.omo herbal home for bringing my life back, i never thought i would ever be cured of UTIs again due to the medical report i had from the hospital not until When God used Dr omo herbs and root in curing me of UTIs his herbes are very active no side effect Dr omo herbs are the best try some of his herbs and testify Inbox him on {dromo596@gmail.com} whatsapp no; [+2349033505260
    If you have any problem like
    Herpes 1/2 / cold sores,HSV 1&2 any type of disease / INFECTION
    Hiv/aids
    fibroids, blocked fallopian tubes
    yeast infection
    Cancer
    Hepatitis B
    Pregnancy issue, pcos , Als, STD,Epilepsy LUPUS,THYROID
    Penis engagement/boobs.. whatsapp no; [+2349033505260
    his email: dromo596@gmail.com
    GOD BLESS YOU SIR

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thankes to Dr OSAZE, who cured me of fallopian tube blockage and fibroid. i married for over eight years wthout a child of my own. because of the problem with my fallopian tubbe and fibroid, until i came in conntact with Dr OSAZE's testimony and recommendations online, on how he has cured and healed so many people of the same illment, and i decided to contact him, and he administered his medicatons on me, and i became pregnant in two monnths. incasse you wannt to reach him for a similar problem, you can call or whatsap him on +2347089275769 or email: DROSAZEHERBAL@GMAIL.COM

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good news this is to everyone out there with different health challenges, as I know there are still a lot of people suffering from different health issues and are therefore looking for solutions. I bring you Good news. There is a man called Dr Ehimare a herbal practitioner who helped cured me from HSV (2). I have suffered from this disease for the past 5 years and I have spent so much money trying to survive from it. I got my healing by taking the herbal medicine Dr Ehimare sent to me to drink for about 14 days . 3 days after completion of the dosage, I went for a medical checkup and I was tested free from HSV. All thanks to God for leading me to Dr Ehimare who was able to cure me completely from this deadly disease. I’m sharing this so that other people can know of this great healer called Dr Ehimare   because I got to know him through Elizabeth who he cured from HIV. I was made to understand that he can cure several other deadly diseases and infections. Don’t die in ignorance or silence and don’t let that illness take your life. Contact Dr Ehimare   through his email  drehimare3@gmail.com or whatsapp on +1 (267) 691-1087   He cure all forms of disease {1}HIV/AIDS {2}DIABETES {3}EPILEPSY {4} BLOOD CANCER {5} HPV {6} BRAIN TUMOR {7} HEPATITIS {8}COPD{9} SICKLE AND ANAEMIA.etc Be kind enough to share as you received.  

    ReplyDelete
  8. Learning the history of our ancestors helps us gain a greater understanding of the challenges they faced. If you are looking for a cheaper celebrity leather jackets such as secret world templar outfits at accessible pricing and free shipping .

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well, Thanks For Posting Such An Outstanding Idea. I Like This Blog & I Like The Topic And Thinking Of Making It Right. Towing Service Near Me . Roadside assistance. Fuel delivery. Insurance towing. Call us for 24/7 emergency service.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Fly Ash powder Louisiana is a widely used material in Louisiana's construction industry. As a byproduct of coal combustion, this fine powder possesses cementitious properties and is often utilized as a partial replacement for Portland cement in concrete mixtures, enhancing durability and reducing environmental impact.

    ReplyDelete
  11. In Dammam, immerse yourself in a world of chocolates in Dammam delights, where a wide range of delectable treats awaits. From smooth milk chocolates to rich dark varieties, these exquisite confections are a source of pure joy for any chocolate enthusiast.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Public Notary Dubai, provided by the Dubai Courts, play a crucial role in authenticating and certifying legal documents, ensuring their validity and enforceability. Public notaries act as impartial witnesses, verifying signatures, administering oaths, and attesting to the authenticity of various agreements, contracts, and deeds.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Cmolds stands as a top app development company, known for crafting innovative and tailored solutions. With a team of skilled professionals, Cmolds elevates businesses through cutting-edge app development, setting a benchmark in the industry. Trust Cmolds as your partner in turning ideas into impactful digital solutions.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you for sharing your knowledge on the New York divorce procedure. Having a website that provides a step-by-step breakdown and timeframe is really helpful for people going through a difficult period. Excellent work!
    ¿QuĂ© Rápidamente Puede Obtener una Divorciar en Nueva York?

    ReplyDelete
  16. "13 Things We Need to Learn From Our Ancestors" is a thought-provoking article that explores timeless wisdom from our ancestors, emphasizing simplicity, community, and nature. It encourages a deeper connection to our roots for a more balanced life. Summons With Notice Divorce New York

    ReplyDelete
  17. Embark on a reflective journey through time as we delve into the invaluable lessons passed down through generations in our latest blog post, "13 Things We Need to Learn From Our Ancestors." Explore the timeless wisdom and insights that have stood the test of time, offering a compass for navigating the complexities of modern life.
    loudoun traffic lawyer

    ReplyDelete
  18. Our ancestors hold invaluable wisdom passed down through generations. By studying their teachings, traditions, and experiences, we gain insight into our own lives and the world around us. Let us honor their legacy by learning from their successes, failures, and timeless lessons for a brighter future. divorce law in virginia

    ReplyDelete
  19. Embracing the tradition of patching and repairing clothes not only adds character but also honors sustainability. Just like those beloved patched pants, Clutches Bags can be cherished and revived, adding a touch of nostalgia and uniqueness to your style.

    ReplyDelete