I know what we have gained in the last century, but I am not so sure
what we have lost.
~ the certainty of the presence and company of large, wild mammals
~ the presumption that there is a starry sky
~ the civility of a gunless society
~ the sense of the earth being spacious and underpopulated
~ the calm of spaces without advertising
From Bill Oliver, Owen Sound, Ontario:
~ time
~ innocence
From Winnifred Bundy, Singing Wind Bookstore, Benson, Arizona:
~ quiet, especially quiet
From Allan Stone, Owen Sound, Ontario:
~ clean air outside of cities
From Lynne Milnes, Victoria, British Columbia:
~ the assumption that our children would be able to breathe
~ the assumption that our children would be safe outdoors
~ the assumption that our children would be the ones to "fix things"
From Alex Gibson, Owen Sound, Ontario (WWII Vet):
~ friendship among peoples
From Lucile T. Stone, Cleveland, Ohio:
~ the ability to be simply satisfied with one's lot in life
From Godfrey Lister, Owen Sound, Ontario:
~ peace and quiet in cities
From Linda Silver Dranoff, Toronto, Ontario:
~ certainty of social norms and social values
~ a sense of community
~ respect for politicians
~ a feeling in our bones that we are part of democratic governance by
consensus
From Peter Powning, rural New Brunswick, Canada:
~ reliably unpoisoned food
~ guaranteed pain at the dentist
~ the tyranny of the church
~ time
~ real dark
~ species pride
From Lilly Whitham, Owen Sound:
~ the assumption that humans are the most intelligent species
From Sat Dharam Kaur, Owen Sound:
~ the ability to nurse our young withour fear
~ time to play
~ a safe future for humanity
~ the ability to do without technology
From Peter Ernest, St. Lucia, West Indies:
~ A coastline without marine debris, especially "Plastics." Will our children ever understand what a clean beach really looked like?
From David Landman, London, England:
~contentment
~the ability to enjoy life without telephone, television, internet.
From Jane Irvine, Victoria, B.C.:
~instinct
From Joan Irvine, Big Bay, Ontario:
~some of our songs and stories
From F.L.Sauceman, Canton, Texas:
~we have lost the sense of family
From Peter Kendall, Bolton, Ontario:
~a life without locks
~common sense
~sense of awe
~the pinto
From David Cotter, Bolton, Ontario:
~A belief that marriage lasts forever
~Tenderness
~Honesty
~Time
~Busy signals on the telephone
~The Friendly Giant
From Pete Ewins, Toronto, Ontario:
~the ability, as a society, to think and act in time frames longer than five years
From Jessica, Waseca, Minnesota:
~Independence from time
~Nothing that we didn't have to begin with and almost all the emotion we had before
Alan Young, East Sooke, BC:
~the edge of the world
~the certainty of safe streams
~a fear of the Pope
~the uncomplicated joy of the sun's warmth
Laura Jackson, Flatrock & St. John's, Newfoundland:
~steam trains
Cynthia Papermaster, Law Librarian, Master of Library Science, UC Berkeley, 1973:
~ We have lost respect for the "L" word -- libraries, librarians, and the
Master of Library Science degree have become information centers, directors
of information resources, and Schools of Information Management and Systems.
Simon Gibson, Hertford, United Kingdom
~ The sense of community
Marie Holt from Elora, ontario
(these are a mixture of sad and glad ones)
~ The white margerine in squeeze packs with the yellow dye tablet
inside. I loved mixing it together! Nutrition?
~ Libby's fruit cocktail with only one cherry in it. It was awful
stuff, but getting that single "red" cherry was great!
~ The milk box. I loved the man who delivered the milk. He had a
horse driven truck. I used to climb in the milk chute when I
forget my house key.
~ Having the chicken pox, measles, whooping cough and mumps is a
rare thing in North America now. It was so much fun staying home
from school and listening to the junky radio programs though!
~ The concept of fruit in season is gone now that we get
raspberries in February. It is nice to look forward to "peach
season"- but it is also nice to have these things available at
any time.
~ The ink pen: what torture not to spill and smear ink. Yet a great
sense of pride when something was well done. As for the written
letter, that is gone mostly. Is penmanship even taught these
days?
~ Mothering mother is not fun. Being the child I miss. Consulting
Mom for information which she ALWAYS knew...is gone.
~ The evolution of words is intriguing. Yet, when "protecting the
environment" means extraction of aggregates there is a slimey
dishonest element at work here...
~ Train rides to Nana's were great. The visits were not.
~ Laundry chutes are a real loss. We need to invent the reverse
laundry chute as well, so that clothes miraculously climb back
upstairs to the drawers all clean and folded.
Brenda Sue, Kelowna, BC
~ Peace of the 60's
Melina, Argentina
~ silence
Joanne Jackson, Winnipeg, Manitoba
~ as a female to go for a walk alone in the evening
Dawn Harrison, Ottawa, Ontario
~ riding your best friend to work (the horse) in the morning. But the current mode of transportation is faster??
Carolyn Tait-Guest, Guelph, Ontario
~ An understanding and respect for the important role mothers play in our society and culture. The qualities being nurtured in our children of today, will impact our society and culture tomorrow.
~ Mentoring of our young. Absent (& disconnected) fathers and working mothers mean that too many of our youth are feeling angry and frightened as they try to figure things out alone. How will they learn to care for others (including other species) when this is not their experience?
