I wish I had a time machine

I'm reading a book right now called "The Fall of Giants" that has gotten my mind to thinking. My whole life I've always been very intrigued by history and thought it would be so fantastic to have lived in a different era.

My favorite time periods to read about and watch movies about are early America back when we were fighting for our independence, the mid to late 1800's in the South (Gone With The Wind times), the early 1900's in Europe, and America in the 1940's-1950's. All of these time periods really fascinate me and I think about all of the pretty clothes the women got to wear (besides around the American revolution) and how women got to pretty much go to parties and social events and never really be too responsible for anything but having babies.

But then I think, only the wealthy women got to wear pretty clothes and go to parties and depend on their husbands/families for everything. They were not the majority of people during those times periods. Regular women had hard lives and almost no rights.

I also think about all of the terrible ways people could get sick or need medical help and it not be available or advanced enough to take care of all of the things we know about today. For example, by the time people were in their 40's or so, their teeth would be rotting and disgusting. I would hate to have to have a tooth removed without anesthesia!

I also think about the inequalities back in those time periods that people had to fight hard to correct.

So, I'm grateful to all of the people before me who made America a free country, abolished slavery, demanded equal rights for women, modern medicine, and so much more.

The world is far from perfect in 2011. There's still injustice, the government doesn't always make the best choices, and so on but, I think every generation from the beginning of time has felt that way about the world.

If only there were such things as time machines, then I could just visit the time periods that seem so interesting to me and leave when I'm ready :) Or maybe I'll just keep reading books to take me back in time...