In The Old Days......

When my children were small, they used to ask me to tell them

stories about the old days. I am sure my stories were hard for them to imagine. Today I was watching television and found one that made me think of the old days. The family of mom, dad, and children were going out for a picnic. They first spread a blanket on the ground. We seldom do that anymore. We carry a table cloth with us in our camper or the picnic table outside.

As I watched that, I thought of what we had to go through to have a picnic. Mom would fry piles of chicken, make bowls of potato salad, and take a lot of other things to complete the meal. Of course, the meal was always in the shade! Mom made the most delicious potato salad in the world and the prettiest. When it was chilled and completly mixed, she would take an egg and slice it vertically and make a daisy for the decoration on the top. She did this for every day meals. That's just what she did.
Well, the meal was over and the blankets were picked up. What a mess. There were stick tights, thistles, and cockleburs all stuck to the blankets. In those days we  used double blankets. They had double the area for all the sticky weeds to adhere themselve. What a tedious job to pull those tiny little stickers out so that mom could wash the blankets clear of them. Memories of all of our picnics are very dear to me.  Oh, I think of deli potato salad now and just can't believe the difference. I just don't think my mother ever bought any.