The good old days?

I remember a time when the washing machine would foam up if you put too much soap in it and flood the washroom floor. The washroom floor was, as often as not, the kitchen, and the washing machine was a portable that hooked up to the sink.  A clothes dryer, for most people, was an aluminum tree with outspread arms draped with 1â�„4-inch cotton rope that stood in a cement block in the backyard. The alternative, the Laundromat, could suck up a whole day.

u      u      u

For kids, the good old days included doctor visits in which  you had a 50-percent chance of getting stuck with a dull hypodermic needle. The throwaway concept was yet to be born. They just popped the same needle into a sterilizer and used it again. Penicillin shots were the cure-all, until they realized that you could become resistant. When I was a kid they had not figured this out so I became a virtual pin cushion.

If the doctor came to the house it meant  you were too sick to go to his office, so a shot was guaranteed. Medicine by mouth usually meant a foul-tasting gagger liquid, but was still preferred to being stabbed for your own good. Oh how I hated and feared that little black bag.

Major diseases that lurked in the dark recesses of our minds included polio, tuberculosis (an affliction of the city, where large numbers of people lived in close proximity), infantile paralysis (we weren’t sure what this was, we just knew it was bad) and whatever it was that put you into an iron lung. I don’t remember cancer being much discussed, probably because there were so many other things that could get you first. On the other hand, we weren’t afraid of measles when we probably should have been.

u      u      u

Clothes shopping involved finding clothes that were just the right amount too big, so you would grow into them. Of course by then they were usually worn out. Rain and snow wear had to be huge because you didn’t use it every day so it had to last while you shot up another 6 inches and grew another two shoe sizes. My rubber galoshes qualified as flotation devices.

Schools had rules for attire. My seventh-grade teacher once stood me up in front of the room as a bad example because I was wearing a “dressâ€� shirt with no tie and the top button undone.  Blue jeans were a reason to be sent home.

But the rebel lives! Now I sometimes actually wear a dress shirt, top button undone, with blue jeans. Just not in public.

Bill Abrams resides, and wistfully remembers the past, in Pine Plains.

 

Latest News

A scenic 32-mile loop through Litchfield County

Whenever I need to get a quick but scenic bicycle ride but don’t have time to organize a group ride that involves driving to a meeting point, I just turn right out of my driveway. That begins a 32-mile loop through some of the prettiest scenery in northern Litchfield County.

I ride south on Undermountain Road (Route 41 South) into Salisbury and turn right on Main Street (Route 44 West). If I’m meeting friends, we gather at the parking area on the west side of Salisbury Town Hall where parking is never a problem.

Keep ReadingShow less
Biking Ancramdale to Copake

This is a lovely ride that loops from Ancramdale north to Copake and back. At just over 23 miles and about 1,300 feet of elevation gain, it’s a perfect route for intermediate recreational riders and takes about two hours to complete. It’s entirely on quiet roads with little traffic, winding through rolling hills, open countryside, picturesque farms and several lakes.

Along the way, you’ll pass a couple of farmstands that are worth a quick visit. There is only one hill that might be described as steep, but it is quite short — probably less than a quarter-mile.

Keep ReadingShow less
Taking on Tanglewood

Aerial view of The Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass.

Provided

Now is the perfect time to plan ahead for symphonic music this summer at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. Here are a few highlights from the classical programming.

Saturday, July 5: Shed Opening Night at 8 p.m. Andris Nelsons conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra as Daniil Trifonov plays piano in an All-Rachmaninoff program. The Piano Concerto No. 3 was completed in 1909 and was written specifically to be debuted in the composer’s American tour, at another time of unrest and upheaval in Russia. Trifonev is well-equipped to take on what is considered among the most technically difficult piano pieces. This program also includes Symphonic Dances, a work encapsulating many ideas and much nostalgia.

Keep ReadingShow less
James H. Fox

SHARON — James H. Fox, resident of Sharon, passed away on May 30, 2025, at Vassar Brothers Hospital.

Born in New York, New York, to Herbert Fox and Margaret Moser, James grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. He spent his summers in Gaylordsville, Connecticut, where he developed a deep connection to the community.

Keep ReadingShow less