Wondering

If we were out walking down this pathway we might see a butterfly or a bird or two, but nothing like the exotic animals in today's pictures. There was fifteen 'strange' animals to see in an e-mail sent to me and they were all so ugly they were beautiful. I wanted to know what a two toed sloth looked like and was surprised to see it. I had no idea that every time I filled in a cross word puzzle asking for a sloth that this is what it looked like. In my imagination it was a tiny creature similar to a moth . . . boy, was I wrong. Maybe part of the monkey family? Strange creature, certainly not beautiful but a bit on the scary side. If I had to meet one of the strange creatures I think the tapir has more going for it with it's snout like that of an elephant that was cut short, or the fur reminiscent of a zebra's strip. It does look a little forlorn, not a smirk to its name. If I stretch my imagination I might come up with a likeness between people in our lives. Some with a smirk and a desire to pounce to get ahead and climb the ladder before you can get on the first rung, or the shy ones that need a push to start up the ladder. I'm probably thinking of work years which I am thankful are behind me now that the new electronic age as arrived in full bloom.

I am amazed at the changes in people as they accept the newness of the electronic gadgets and cannot go anywhere they are not glued to one. Names I've never heard of, I-Pods; cell phones; play stations; lap tops and a myriad of new gadgets coming out on a daily basis. I watch two of my children sitting in the same room glued to laptops, carrying on conversations or playing games fully engrossed with the company on the screen. You can have movies, music or play a dozen games that keeps your eyes glued to a screen and your mind moving in ten directions. Eight hundred 'friends' . . . who needs eight hundred friends? I'm lucky I have one. I dabble a tiny bit in this wondrous world of electronics and haven't moved out of the beginning stage. I signed up on 'Facebook' so I could find out what family members were up to, but I am lost when I try to participate. I find it too fast, too intrusive and not 'my cup of tea' . . . I like to blog. I like to send e-mails and funny cards, but I am slowing down while the electronic pace is moving faster than my mind can accept. Now I know why the older members in my generation were always worried about the future generation and the problems they were going to face. It goes with age as I wonder what is going to happen to the future generation. Like us, they are preparing for 'their time' and will survive just as we did. They are preparing for their future and what it contains while we look back and think about what changes we survived, and there were so many.

So, today be a survivor. Pay attention to all of the new electronic devices and learn what it is they have to offer, just be sure you do not them master your life because it is very short and as one person wrote ' life is not a rehearsal' so put your electronic gadget down and lose yourself in silence and wonder and look about you, then interact with your fellow man and for heaven's sake put the gadget away and hug someone while you carry on a conversation eyeball to eyeball with them. It really is okay to enjoy a meal, or drive your car with the intrusion of a gadget. Everyone does not have to know where you are every waking moment. Be master of your own fate starting today.