Changing Times
As I was sitting at my computer I was
thinking back when things were quite different. We mailed
letters to our friends with envelopes and stamps. We made
notes on paper and saved them in a real folder, and my
desktop was usually the kitchen table.
I just got through talking with my son in Austin, Texas on
my cellphone. No operator helped me, and since he
subscribes to the same provider as I, we can call each
other as many times as we wish and talk as long as we like
without an extra charge. That’s a far cry from our two
party line with Mr. Raymond Farrer as I was growing up.
I had hot tomato soup for lunch. It was better than the
tomato soup that Mother made and I prepared it in a
fraction of the time using a microwave. Today a microwave
is as common in everyone’s kitchen as a toaster.
It’s satisfying to be able to take photographs of my
grandchildren in color without film or flash bulbs using a
digital camera and to print them out using the computer. I
often receive pictures and videos of my youngest grandson
that lives in Texas. His father takes them with his
cellphone and sends them to me by email.
My wife has a new Honda Touring Van. It has a lot of bells
and whistles but the one that fascinates me most is the
“Navigator”. You can put in the address of your destination
and it will steer you verbally and pictorially to where
you’re going. Last summer we went to see our son and his
family in Texas. As we left our driveway I typed in my
son’s Texas address and it guided us to his front door in
Austin.
My, how things change!