Monthly Archives: April 2012

Keeping up with Technology

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My goodness the technology is growing and changing so fast that I must admit to having a hard time keeping up. My granddaughter, Haley, stopped by the other day and was showing me the brand new phone that she bought.

This phone is more like a multi-function device instead of a phone. You can make calls with it, but it also sends text messages, lets you get on the internet, provides GPS mapping, plays music and movies, and take pictures and videos. Its like a tiny computer, Walkman and Kodak all mixed together in a tiny box with a screen.

I don’t think I can justify spending $600 on a cell phone with all those extra gadgets. It would take me a very long to just learn how to use them all. I’m glad Haley is young and able to learn all of this as she goes. Catching up is getting harder to do as each day goes by, and I don’t think I can keep up with these young people with their fancy technology any more.

Obsolete Schoolbooks

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When I was in school, no one questioned the books that were issued each year by the teachers and sent home with the students for homework. My parents never even looked at a single book that I brought home, never checked my homework or asked what I was working on and certainly didn’t question the schools as to what they were teaching me. I guess they just expected the school board and the teachers to know what needed to be taught and they were trusted with finding the right books to do the job.

That is why I find it so odd that many parents around here are freaking out about teaching the children about evolution or creationism. They even considered legislation about it and passed a law that appears to bring the whole state back to the ignorance and mentality of the Scopes Monkey trial, over 80 years ago. What on earth are these people thinking? We don’t need to go back to the mentality of people from 1925. Have we not learned anything in over 80 years?

Stately Magnolia Trees

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There are no magnolia trees in my yard but there always seem to be leaves from magnolia trees that blow into my yard from one of my neighbor’s trees. I never really paid much attention to how many magnolia trees are in my neighborhood until recently. I found an unusual number of brown magnolia tree leaves in my front yard and it gave me pause. I looked around with a more critical eye, searching out the stately trees with the distinctive blooms.

As it turns out, the original developer of this neighborhood must have really liked magnolia trees, because I can see a magnolia tree was deliberately planted in the front yard of every third house all the way down my block, on both sides of the street. That is actually a large number of magnolia trees and that many would not just be a coincidence.

The trees are actually evergreens, which means they keep their leaves throughout the year and do not drop their leaves like all the deciduous trees here. But they are mostly known for their beautiful, large white blossoms, which last a long time and are very popular for southern brides bouquets and decorations in the home.

Thursday Meetings

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One of my good friends always goes to meetings on Thursday nights after work. At first I never questioned what the meetings were about, and he never really expounded on that. It was fine that he went to meetings every week and I knew better then to include him in any plans that might fall on a Thursday because he would not be available.

But like every absolute, we humans like to challenge them on occasion. I imagine that is a big problem for the wives of celebrities, wanting to so something with their spouse or family and being restricted by a schedule. It is always tempting to try to get an exception for one “good reason” or another. But a professional cannot afford the luxury of canceling a commitment or they risk getting a bad reputation for not showing up – and that can be a career killer.

Have a Happy Easter

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easter-eggs

One of the advantages of being an adult over the holidays is that you can kick up the level of decorations and special touches just a notch. We don’t have any brown speckled eggs from the kids dipping their Easter eggs into every single color of dye instead of choosing just one color. We can make pretty things and, if they last, they can be handed down later as heirlooms.