Simple Things

Some things are just so simple that no one even thinks of them as an answer to even the simplest problem. Did a mosquito dine on your arm or leg? Swipe a little vinegar on it and the itch goes away. Did you have a rash that itches like a thousand fire ants attacked? Vinegar to the rescue!

Sometimes we just don’t stop to think about problems from a face-on perspective. We are so accustomed to being told that “chigger-rid” or “scratch-ex” are the answer to our problems that we have forgotten that grandmother or great-grandmother had to deal with the same critters in their day—without the “advantages” of modern products. One of the advantages of modern products is that they are sold as the answer to certain problems. That means we buy those particular products expecting certain results. Who in the world would consider one of the ingredients of a salad dressing for relief of the itch of a dry rash?

Have you seen a child play with wooden blocks lately? Probably not. Most “blocks” today are plastic cubes or something brightly colored and soft. They don’t really stack very well and don’t allow a child to learn to balance them because they either are too soft or have some way of attaching to other blocks that has nothing to do with balance or placement. Somehow that feels like pushing a child to dance before it learns to crawl.

Finally, we believe we have found the ultimate toy—no batteries required. Mud. Just plain dirt out in the garden mixes well with a garden hose and a child. Mud piles on things, slugs things, paints things, and makes wonderful gushy feeling footprints on things. No one gripes about mud outside in the garden—even the dogs can help dig the holes for more dirt. Rinse off the child, roll up the hose, and let the sun dry up the puddles. Yeppers, the perfect toy—for summertime, at least.

Too bad we can’t apply the vinegar and mud solutions to other situations.