No One Snaps Green Beans with Grandma Anymore

I recently was on my Pinterest when I saw a quote that took me back to my childhood. The pin was referring to how no one snapped green beans with grandma anymore and how it is part of the problem with the world today. Now if you didn’t have a grandma that gardened or canned this concept might seem a bit foreign. For me though growing up in Southern Virginia and coming from a long line of farmers snapping green beans on the porch was a thing.

I have fond memories sitting at my grandma’s feet with a plastic washtub bucket as she sat in the rocking chair and snapped green beans into it. This also, was true about sitting outside on the porch taking the butter beans out of their shell too. I’m not that old (mid-30s) and reflecting on this reminds me of a slower pace and a time where social media, pressure from peers and deadlines didn’t exist. The phone hung on the wall and when my dad left work the worries of it didn’t hit the dinner table or interrupt the family tv time.

Harvest Time and Unity

Harvest time or cooking up large quantities off food brought people together. Men and women sat on porches in unity snapping, peeling or cutting up food into the late evenings. The time was used to talk and catch up with one another often kin people. Some used the time to gossip and others used it to trade recipes and family food secrets. However this time of food preparation and harvest was used it was always a time of community and unity.

Looking at everything that goes on in the current world and the apparent lack of unity I can’t help, but think we all need to take a lesson from those simpler times. Going out of the house without a cell phone feels like a missing link and many of us convince ourselves we need it to stay on top of clients and sales. Although I wonder how much of this demand is really in our own minds. Many people were very successful and supported families before it.

The more we depend on technology it seems the personal connections between people are fading away. A lot of people would rather text than make a phone call or email instead of writing a personalized note. Most children I know can’t even read cursive handwriting and I remember it was one of the first things we learned in the third grade. Technology is awesome and the advantages may outnumber the cons, but I can’t help to reach for things that make me nostalgic the older I get.

Personally I’d love nothing more than to go back to sitting on the porch with my grandma or Nanny surrounded by family and pets, listening to the chatter and snapping crisp green beans. I have a feeling I’m not the only one. A Google search will prove that people are stressed and in need to find ways to unplug. The quest for a simplistic way of life might be more sought out than the media or popular culture is leading on.

Choosing a Slower Pace of Life

Sometime we get caught up in the world’s ideas and other people’s dreams for us and forget the simplicity. I found out the hard way the big dreams of skyscraper penthouses, bustling streets filled with traffic and people stepping on each other going up the corporate ladder weren’t really for me. I left that world because no matter how hard I tried to fit into that role I could not.

I am not a city girl and my roots to the land, the needing to run barefoot, cuddle farm animals and drive down old dirt roads with fields of cows is what makes my heart tick. In the middle of nowhere things are quiet and the farm animals don’t judge. Turns out I didn’t need all those pieces of paper on my wall to be complete.

I had hid things I originally dreamed about as a child because they didn’t fall into the dreams others had for me. I was pushed to go to college because no one else did. I was expected to have the six figure job and all the things that went with it. Deep down though all I ever wanted to do was share my love of this land and good food with anyone that would listen. I dreamed of lots of animals (preferably the ones no one else wanted) and with them to be a happy place for those that needed it.

It took me a long time to allow myself to do what I really wanted and to not concern myself with the dreams of others. So, if you’re missing a simpler way of life or just want to learn to slow down don’t be afraid to try something new. Gardening is one of life’s many joys for example to connect back to nature and a simpler way of life.

I’ve tried to figure out ways to incorporate more personal connections into my life. I refuse to agree with everything I see in this impersonal world and to believe everyone is cold and non friendly. I still give people a smile and hello when I meet them and I think both are much needed. I try to share a bit of my time with others that seem to want to talk, no matter how busy I think I am. In the end I think it is the little things like a wave, handwritten notes and sharing small talk that can connect us. Life is short why live it for someone else. Maybe even try your hand at growing your own green beans to snap.