Sometimes I ponder whether I would have fit better into 1800s or early 1900s society/culture. Maybe I absorbed a bit too much from reading oldish books. It's probably just the illusion of distance that makes it seem like life might have felt more manageable and predictable then.

But also, every time this slips into mind, I ponder that I easily might never have lived to grow up, what with all the childhood diseases, not to mention the prospect of being semi-permanently crippled by the effects of the juvenile arthritis, before the advent of anti-inflammatory meds and physical therapy. Mainly I note the infection I got during high school, somehow, which put me in the hospital for several days but apparently could easily have killed me in pre-antibiotic-IV-drip days.

So, overly bookish or no, I'm happy enough to work with the culture I've been dealt. I would have been pretty annoyed with the lack of gender equality back then, anyway. among other things. like outhouses. and having to fetch water in pails. but i guess you get used to whatever you grow up with.

ok, no more rambling tonight. beddy-bye.

copyright 2003 carrie lynn king.