How different then from now, with smartphones connecting wiseacres fertilizing the minutes of their young lives.
I back then lived long days with folks who forked over all they could for sustainment, and not for entertainment.
Way out in the country we had a party line — so hard to imagine now — but we simply had to share. My sis and I learned tricks to listen in on calls: hold the button down, unscrew the mouthpiece to mute our end.
Our one-and-only phone was on a kitchen block above the silverware drawer, right near the old china hutch. That black phone had a cord with ample length for me to take my calls while sitting beneath the kitchen table. An ironed tablecloth seemed privacy enough to share and gossip and laugh, with a view of my mom's shoes.
When a call was ended I materialized beside her with cloth in hand to dry silver she had washed.
I back then lived long days with folks who forked over all they could for sustainment, and not for entertainment.
Way out in the country we had a party line — so hard to imagine now — but we simply had to share. My sis and I learned tricks to listen in on calls: hold the button down, unscrew the mouthpiece to mute our end.
Our one-and-only phone was on a kitchen block above the silverware drawer, right near the old china hutch. That black phone had a cord with ample length for me to take my calls while sitting beneath the kitchen table. An ironed tablecloth seemed privacy enough to share and gossip and laugh, with a view of my mom's shoes.
When a call was ended I materialized beside her with cloth in hand to dry silver she had washed.
Written for The Mag: Mag 137 that inspired with the above photo prompt
(It Must Be Time For Lunch Now, 1979, by Francesca Woodman).
(It Must Be Time For Lunch Now, 1979, by Francesca Woodman).
I cannot believe how much things have changed since I was in middle school! This image brought back a powerful memory of something that hardly seems real....
We didn't have the party line for long because city service came our way, and I wonder if party lines still exist. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, find info here.
