It was the way of Life--it was Survival.

Yesterday, I read a post, shared by Cheryl Berggren but first posted by:  95.7 KJR 4 July 2013,   CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL BORN IN 1930's, 1940's, 50's, 60's, 70's and Early 80's !!!

I was so impressed that I immediately had to post/share it, to my Facebook page and to my blog: Canadian I Am. Possibly one of the reasons I was so impressed is because it reminded me so much of a segment from my cook book-first published with Windows 95. I am republishing that short segment here, now.

Thats me, fourth from the left, third row back.

My father's family came from around Girvan Scotland.

My mother's family was from Barrie and Orillia Ontario; where they had lived for "several"(available records show eight) generations before moving to Alberta.

I was born to 1940 rural Alberta (Winterburn area just outside of Edmonton). Full electricity, running water, and telephone were things only hoped for; and of course, there was no TV so the old way of life was still quite common. I grew up in and around Edmonton. My wife grew up near a small town in the rural Peace River area of Alberta.

Whether you lived in the city or in the country; in those days you tried to raise your own eats (those that could not be gathered wild), and that went for meats also (many city dwellers raised a few chickens, almost all had a garden, and if you lived near the out-skirts, it was not unheard of to raise a hog or two). What you couldn't raise you would try to shoot and I would venture to say that every man, woman, and child, on both sides, had some knowledge of how to set a hen, skin a rabbit, fire a rifle, hitch a horse, and butcher a hog. It was the way of life--it was survival.