Monday, November 9, 2015

Focusing on Simpler Times

Since this post will be up all week, I'd like to start by saying Thank You to All Veterans. You're very special people and Thank You just doesn't seem like enough. Thinking of you all!
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When I started writing the Sandi Webster series, I had no intention of putting any type of focus on old movies or anything vintage. It just happened, and I’m not exactly sure how or why. Sandi is in her thirties and doesn’t pay much attention to history until it (figuratively speaking) slaps her in the face. She does have a passion for vintage movies though, because she grew up watching them with her mother. However, vintage is many times an acquired taste, and whether she meant to or not, Sandi seems to have developed that taste.

She enjoys not only older movies, but she’s found she likes older people, too. Although I have to admit that she wasn’t given much choice about senior citizens. For some odd reason they just seem to flock to her, starting with her senior neighbor, Dolly. At one point Sandi asked herself if her lot in life is to spend time with seniors and dogs (because at that point Bubba, the half wolf/half Golden retriever, has made his appearance in the stories).

So, knowing that little bit about Sandi, let me return to the subject of vintage movies. Why would Sandi enjoy those over current films? Because in her mind they represent a slower time, a time of more innocence and romance, and a sense of patriotism and camaraderie. Those certainly aren’t bad things, but there must be more to it than that. Right? I tried to walk in Sandi’s shoes, or more to the point, to see things through her eyes, because Sandi really isn’t based on me. She’s her own fictional person. Okay, maybe she’s a little like me in a few of her interests (like chocolate), but not much.

Sandi is a woman who stands on the high side of naiveté, and she doesn’t always “get” what goes on in today’s world. She had to grow up too fast and join the working world. She never had the opportunity to be a typical teenager. Therefore, she doesn’t follow the crowd, but she does what suits her. She can be humorous, but she tends to take a stand on what’s right and what’s wrong. She’s sometimes opinionated and not politically correct. She expects others to be honest, as she is. She’s frequently frustrated when things don’t go the way she believes they should.

Consequently, vintage movies take her away from real life for a brief span of time. Maybe Sandi was born in the wrong era. She forgets that although things were simpler when these movies were made, they were complicated at the same time. She deals with older men and women who lived through World War II and Viet Nam, the Korean Conflict and other hard times. Murders and other crimes occurred in the time periods she so admires, just as they do today, but somehow it seems different to her.

In the process of doing research, I went through many old newspapers. Some of the crimes were horrendous, but I think Sandi is right in believing that everyday life in the thirties and forties was simpler in a lot of ways. Maybe one day I’ll write a blog about the ways that were more difficult, but not today.

Sandi may live in a dream world to some extent, but even so, her feet are firmly planted in today. She learns and moves on, and she’s a survivor – and fate continues to hand her vintage crimes from time to time.

Do you believe that things used to be simpler? Yes, they were more difficult in some ways, but overall, weren’t they slower and easier in their own way?

Until next time, wishing you a week of reflection about things both past and present.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website
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If you enjoyed learning a little more about Sandi Webster, you might give this series a try.

20 comments:

  1. I remember the 40s well--war years--not so difficult for me except finding good Bubblegum was nearly impossible--for mom cooking was a chore because of the ration stamps for sugar and the like, for dad, he saved his gas ration stamps so we could go on vacation, and rode his bicycle to and from work everyday.

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    1. Thanks for the memories, Marilyn! I remember my mother and grandmother talking about how much they disliked Oleo. But you use what you have to use. : ) Thank you so much for commenting!

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  2. My parents owned a farm during the war, so they ate well. I was born at the end of the war, and in the 1950s people were rushing to enjoy the energy saving inventions, which seemed to include canned food. We began to recover from that in the 1970s, when families discovered real cooking again. The 1950s were a time of repression that kept building. I remember McCarthy and how hateful he was, and how easy it was for WASPs to express prejudice and get away with it. Things were not better in the past.

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    1. You're right, Susan, but our perception of how things were is often different than reality. If we listen to 1940s music and watch the old movies, that seems to put a different slant on what was. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  3. Do I believe things were simpler in days gone by? Yes. Simpler in that technology, which is extraordinary complicated, was limited. People eagerly anticipated a letter in the mail instead of expecting an instant reply to their email. No cell phones and no video games, which meant they spent more quality time with each other. Families sat down to dinner every night rather than ordering fast food on the run. Hmm. Maybe I was born in the wrong generation. LOL

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    1. A woman after my own heart, Pat. I also remember being able to walk to the park without worrying about safety. Playing outdoors instead of spending all my time playing games on a computer. Making mud pies. Yes, things were different. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  4. Having spent the first five years of my life on an Oklahoma farm, life was simpler then or was it? We did have plenty to eat, however. But my mother had been a city girl and she did complain about no plumbing (outhouse), no electricity and having to draw water from a cistern. But she coped very well, learning to sew and crochet from her female in-law relatives and especially learning to cook from my paternal grandmother on a woodburning stove. But moving to town did away with all those inconveniences. Considering how technology has changed almost everything we do today, yes those were simpler times. But easier? No, I don't think so. But they did create a lot of memories that my grandchildren today cannot imagine.

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    1. You're right, Pat, and I'm sorry today's kids won't have the kinds of memories we had. Life was harder in many ways, and yet simpler in others. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  5. I truly believe times were simpler and slower and I'll say better in many respects. Some years ago, my grandson called to interview me for a school project. One of his questions was, what did I have as a young boy that he did not have today. My answer was: freedom. I was free to play outside at night, walk many blocks from my home, and there was no worry that I would be kidnapped or molested. It's not that it never happened. But it was so rare that parents didn't have to worry about it. We lived in Dallas, a sizable city even then. But crime was far less. Our house - in Dallas - was never locked, even when we were away. There were no drive-by shootings. There were no school shootings - I never heard or read about even one. And there was no TV to tell us that someone got shot 3,000 miles away.

    We have many great things now. We have so many things to make our lives easier. But violence is growing in number, in percentage, and in degree. Many people have too much time with no demands. And we expect the government to take care of us.

    Okay. You are right. I am on my soap box. I'll step down. Thanks for bringing us a good post.

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    1. I'm glad you climbed up on your soapbox, Jim, and I couldn't agree more. Yes, things happened in simpler times, but we didn't hear about most of them. When we did hear, we were shocked. Freedom is a great answer for your grandson. We need more of that and less political correctness. Now I'm stepping up on that box, so suffice to say, great comment! Thank you.

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  6. I was raised in the "big city," Chicago, and even there, things were different--things are different now. I won't bore you with why I think they are--nice going down memory lane. Keep well and safe, Marja.

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    1. Thank you, Madeline! A simpler time. Something we could all use right now. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  7. I also grew up in Chicago, and I now live in the suburbs. I think things seemed simpler because we were younger and didn't have the responsibilities or the technology we have now. I was born in the 40's and still love the old movies and the music from that time.

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    1. Ah, something we have in common, Evelyn. Yes, youth probably had a lot to do with it, and yet I still see changes that make me wish things were the way they were back then. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  8. I love technology, but sadly I must admit that it did take aware our freedom. Many of us no longer think outside of our own rooms. We're fixed in front of our computers, on our phones and playing games. It's amazing that many of us were raised in a time where there were no drive-bys as Jim shared, movies were entertaining in the sense of not being blue screened which is actually green, receiving a letter in the mail was exciting, in place of an email that goes on and on and on, life was the same all over...we played outside until the street lights came on, we walked to libraries, school, and parks. Our fears were different, but they were not finite. Thank you for this post of remembrance of a more simpler time

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    1. Thank you, Augie! You described the childhood of so many of us, and you did it so well. Things were simpler, and in many ways there was so much more innocence. I wrote about the 30s and 40s, and yet the 50s and some of the 60s were simpler, too, at least for us kids. Thank you so much for commenting and for some great reminders!

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  9. I agree that things were a lot simpler in the "good old days." Many day-to-day chores required more steps and were more time-consuming, but they were't more complex.

    Thought you might enjoy this: when I was in high school, one of my teachers told our class that we would have to become more creative in finding ways to spend or nonwork hours. According to this teacher, the number of hours in the work week were soon to be reduced significantly. Unfortunately, she couldn't have been more wrong!

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    1. I've heard a number of people repeat what teachers told them about the future, Sharon. Some were surprisingly right and some were wrong. It's interesting to think back about those simpler times. The day-to-day chores were harder, no doubt about it. However, moving beyond the chores, I remember things as being a lot simpler. Here's a story for you. I heard a "bad word" that people use all the time now, and had no idea what it meant. Someone gave me a definition (another child) and she couldn't have been farther from the truth. We were pretty innocent, in most cases. :)

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  10. Interesting to read your article and see how others remember the good old days. Like your Sandi series as you always come up with some new crime with twists. Looking forward to reading your next book.

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    1. Thank you, Jake! After I get moved and settled, I'll try my best to give you a new crime. : )

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