The excitement and warm glow of the night behind her, Applejack waved goodbye to her friends as they each departed to their homes. Sometimes it seemed as if using an ancient artifact to save Princess Luna from the grips of Nightmare Moon was only a trivial side-effect of the Elements of Harmony, and the real magic was in the absolutely impossible things six ordinary mares seemed to kick up every day. She closed the door and gave the glittering gold-tinged bowl a brief pat before putting it back into the pantry where it had resided for more years than Applejack had walked the orchard, although she paused before going upstairs to her own bed.
Opening a paper sack in the corner of the kitchen, Applejack removed the replacement bowl she had purchased just a few hours before, checking to make sure the label was still on it and the receipt inside the bag before putting it back. Tomorrow, before the rest of her friends found out, she needed to make a quick trip to Rich's Bargain Barn and the Customer Service department for a return.
"Sheesh, Twilight," Applejack muttered with a quiet smile as she walked upstairs to her bedroom. "It's just a bowl."
I am reminded of my 94 year old mother and the cast-iron skillet she still uses. The dishwasher is used as a drying rack for when she's done washing dishes in the sink. Sometimes, there's a really strong streak of practicality in farm life, particularly for people who have lived through the Great Depression or had parents who did.
7599595
That, and most Americans have a very weird relationship with history relative to the rest of the world. In pretty much every other continent you can take a day trip to places where your ancestors lived hundreds or thousands of years ago, and in non-urban areas you may even live in towns that have existed for that long. (In some places, in Europe in particular, you may even live in the same buildings or walk in the same streets.) But unless you're Native American, history here slams into an immovable wall back in the 1700s, and even if you are, your locational history is in reservations (which are even more recent) and archaeological sites.
It's strange and a little sad that we can look on someone having similar sorts of family roots — even if they stretch back generations rather than millennia — and find it exceptional.
7599626
I'd imagine it's much the same for those whose ancestors colonized Australia around the same time.
7599595
I've a dishwasher in my apartment which I never use (I just don't think it's as good as hoof-washing, not to mention I tend to use cookware that just can't be done in a dishwasher.
I'd never even thought of using it as a dish-rack.
7599626
I don't really see the problem. If by some slim chance I wanted to visit an ancient site, I'd simply have to go to some other continent. I wouldn't likely want to do so, of course, I don't particularly care what my grandfather did, much less what some distant ancestor of mine found to occupy his time. Also, there are plenty of books and studies available right here if I was curious.
8081206
This, right here, is the "weird relationship with history relative to the rest of the world" I talked about.
Which is not to say it's wrong. (There are plenty of historical traditions that feel like they're holding us back for no good reason, too.) That's just not the way humanity has typically interacted with history.