" Creative Problem-Solving"....Not A New Concept

The Old Man comes from a long line of creative problem solvers. I learned at an early age that there were always simpler and common-sense solutions to most situations. There wasn't much high-tech stuff around Bedford. If we wanted to see something on TV, we went over town and looked through the window of the furniture or appliance store. Frozen foods were a novelty.....my family grew and canned our own produce.


Folks still plowed their gardens with mules, and houses were built one nail at a time. School had "recess", and most "social problems" were confined to a section of the county where Saturday nights brought out vile stuff imbibed from mason jars. Results were usually unfavorable.


As children of the Great Depression, my parents knew the importance of a non-wastefulness lifestyle. Mom would sit and darn socks for Dad and me for hours on end. I don't remember getting new ones until my foot started growing. Well into her '80s, she would sew and mend on her own clothing until it seemed that all the original cloth had been replaced by new thread and stitches.


When it came to solving a problem, or figuring out a simple way to do something, my dad was a "grand master". I recall once when he and I were going fishing, someone had told him that grasshoppers made excellent bait. For several days, he stewed and mulled over how to capture enough for an ample supply . Sitting at the kitchen table, he'd chew on the stem of his pipe, and occasionally mutter to himself. One fine Saturday morning, I noticed traffic slowing down as it passed our house. I went out on the back porch and there was Dad in the area behind our house known as "the back lot", walking back and forth with a minnow seine. Now, if you don't happen to know what a minnow seine is, picture a rectangular fine net with a stick on either end. The idea was to walk through the water and capture bait minnows. So here was Dad, out in a dry-land field seining his heart out. Remember, this is the father of the kid who used to sit up in the Mimosa tree and hum.


He had the last laugh, though. We had enough grasshoppers to take us through a whole day of fishing. Rooted in his love of fishing were other "creative" solutions. To make a fish scaler, he took a strip of wood about 10 inches long and nailed a couple of soft drink bottle caps to one side, jagged side facing. It worked like a charm and could scale a perch in nothing flat. The scaler doubled as a paint-stirring stick. Gripping the bottle-cap end wasn't the most comfortable thing to do, but it worked. I still have that scaler. I wouldn't dare use it...it's one of my connections to something precious to me. I may have it bronzed.


I leave you with a last bit of creativity. We see babies now being carried into restaurants in some really plush and interesting carriers. They are multi-function. They transport, convert into strollers, entertain, and allow baby to snooze in some degree of comfort. I jokingly refer to them as "baby buckets". Perhaps now you will understand why.