As I was walking back to my car, I hit the remote start button on my key chain and the car started up all by itself which actually startled the lady who was loading her trunk in the next parking spot.



The humorous part wasn't in scaring the lady, it was something else it reminded me of.  "Pop" my grandfather on my mother's side used to tell us great stories about when he was a kid (90+ years ago) and how different things were. 



The remote starter reminded me of one he'd tell us all the time.  When he and his sister were just little kids they'd take the cantankerous family mule to school in the winter.  Actually, they'd ride in the sled which the mule pulled.  He smiled as he remembered how they used to sit under the buffalo skin robe and tough out the 5 mile trip through the wind and snow. 



This was upstate NY (Livingston Manor) so they used to get some pretty bad winters "back in the day."  They didn't have the greatest municipal services back then either.  The roads were actually plowed by a team of horses.



After the five mile journey through the snow, sleet, freezing rain or whatever else mother nature would throw at them he'd drop his sister off at the school.  Then he'd continue to the stable which was a mile further down the trail.  After he got Old Betsy un-hooked from the sleigh and settled into the stall he'd walk the mile back to school.  At lunch time while all the other kids were playing, he'd scarf down some lunch and then traipse back to the stable to feed the mule.  Then it was back to school for the rest of the day until they were let out.  One more trip back to the stable to pick up Betsy and it was finally home again. 



So by my math that's about 4 miles of walking per day just to care for the mule. 




The reason my remote starter reminded me of all this was the time he finally did get a car.  You see during the winter when he'd drive the car to school he'd have to jack it up on one side to drain the water out of the radiator so it didn't freeze up...........there was no anti-freeze back then.  When he wanted to get going again he'd have to let the car down, filler up with water, turn the crank and pray to hear the putt-putt noise which signaled his success.



That was just one of his favorite stories he had plenty more.  Like seeing an airplane for the first time.  There were so many changes in his lifetime.  I wonder what the changes in my lifetime will be like.  It was always amazing to me how even at 100 years old he'd remember the kids names he grew up with and even the names of his pet dogs from 90 years past (sometimes my name was a bit of a mystery but that's a story for another time).