Today all the joy has gone out of travelling.  Our thoughts are what is the quickest way to travel?  How fast can I get there and get back home?  Everyone is in a big hurry.

 

Being born in 1933, I was privileged to live in those early years when cars, telephone, radio and TV were luxuries.  Let me tell you about the first car we had, a 1932 Chevrolet, and those Sunday drives we had.

 

My older brother was 16 and the driver.  Father never drove anything but horses.  Our usual Sunday drive would be to the home of a family member.  Generally speaking, this was the way the trip would go:

 

The highway was dirt road (in later years, the TransCanada Highway) and when the car caught fire, no problem.  My brother would stop the car and throw sand on the engine, fix the burnt wires and we were on our way.  The best we would do was about 20 miles per hour.

 

Sometimes on a trip, we would have a flat tire, run out of gas.  One night, we had no lights and it was foggy.  Father had a flashlight out the window and my brother had his head out the window while driving.

 

How do I remember this?  I was approximately eight years old and sitting in the front seat.  My mother, younger brother and aunt were in the back seat.  There was no MacDonald’s, Wendy’s or Burger King in those days and, if there had been, we wouldn’t have been able to afford to stop.

 

Sometimes those trips would take us to the Jobb Homestead.  We would arrive late and hungry and my aunt would be rushing around preparing the meal, and boy, was it a meal!  It was always served in the dining room.  Before we would head for home, we would always have to have a cup of tea (no coffee in those days) and a lunch.

 

With all the conveniences we have today, my wife and I sometimes wish we could go back in time.  Life is not as simple as it used to be and people just want more and more and many of them are never satisfied.  We need to start being more thankful for what we have and start to relax and enjoy life more.

 

Leslie Jobb