I set the novel I just finished writing back in the good old days.
Back when times were simple and easy.
Back in 1979.
The story could’ve played out fine in 2011, but I didn’t want to bother with all the noise, interruptions and implications of personal electronic devices, computers and technology. Packed with powerful metaphor and imagery, I wanted the story and characters to be less distracted and more timeless.
Funny thing is, I remember 1979. I wished more than anything in the world I could be Laura Ingalls. You remember her — the star of the Little House on the Prairie television series. Back in 1979, I wore a long dress whenever possible, pretending to be her whenever I visited Connor Prairie. My mom even bought me an old-fashioned mop hat, so I could tuck my braids in and keep my head warm at night, like Laura and her sister Mary did at the end of so many shows.
If only I lived in 1879 in Walnut Grove, my life as a pre-teenager would’ve been so much better.
No pimples.
No television.
And certainly no middle school.
Just a one-room school house with Miss Beadle, my lunch tucked in a tin pail and chores with my smiling Pa every afternoon. (Unless my sister Carrie fell into an old, abandoned mine. That’d take two whole episodes to fix, that hot mess. But I digress.)
Sadly, life isn’t like 1879 anymore.
It’s not like 1979, either.
It’s 2011, and the only thing that hasn’t changed is most folks — in each of those generations — wish(ed) for simpler, happier times when the world stops and everything from the economy to famines to tornadoes to yes — even middle school — makes more sense and goes down smoother than a sip of lemonade while rocking on a front porch swing with your sweetie.
Last week, scientists detected the largest solar flare in recent history on the surface of the sun. According to the MSNBC report, "Storms brew on the sun when pent-up energy from tangled magnetic field lines is released in the form of light, heat and charged particles.
This can create a brightening on the sun called a flare, and is also often accompanied by the release of a cloud of plasma called a coronal mass ejection."
With all the tangling of political tentacles, pent-up emotions and charged- up folks in Washington and the rest of the world, I’m surprised the earth hasn’t had a major flare itself.
The good news about solar flares is they don’t hurt humans. They just have the potential to mess around with technology and rough-up satellites. And, according to Joe Kunches, a space scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space
WeatherPrediction Center, we’ll get used to them.
"They’ll be much more commonplace," Kunches said.
Going back in time won’t help us deal with the powerful disruptions and disasters of recent weeks and months. Nor will hiding under a mop hat. Pushing forward with courage and strength, and supporting a new era of honest, humble and compassionate leaders will. We’re in dire need not so much of fancy-suited, edgy politicians, as modern day Charles Ingalls’s. Folks who aren’t afraid to get back to basics and put an arm around the hurting, instead of making sure they shake hands with the higher-ups.
Maybe then, like with the sun, we’ll get used to this new era.
Maybe someday, we’ll remember 2011 as "the good old days."
Amy Sorrells is a Zionsville resident and writer. Amy welcomes thoughts and ideas via email at aksorrells@gmail.com.
Amy Sorrells is a Zionsville resident and writer. Amy welcomes thoughts and ideas via email at aksorrells@gmail.com.
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