I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t really stopped to reflect on how blessed I am to be where I am today. Watching people rush around trying to buy everything on the Christmas list has reminded me just how foolish things appear to be in most cases. I’m going to tramp on a lot of peoples feelings here but since I haven’t done that for a while I suppose I can get away with it.

I hear through the grapevine that my grandparents just weathered a nasty storm the other day, 100 MPH winds, 10 inches of rain all at once and with it the usual power outage which effectively wrecks every aspect of life. My grandpa has a little Home Depot type generator, you know the Briggs and Stratton gas guzzling noise machine kind; at least it will run the freezers and lights until the power comes back on, if the gas doesn’t run out first, of course you can’t buy that because the pumps at the station won’t work, and the ones that do are blocked with long lines because everybody is there trying to fill up their little generator too! Without power they can’t cook meals, going out to eat is usually the option but not when the roads are flooded. No running water makes life even more unbearable, but the worst part would have to be the pumped septic system that no longer pumps, and leads to the expected unpleasant results.

I will admit that sometimes the “modern” way of life is nice. It is kind of fun to have everything run at the touch of a button or remote control. It’s really nice to have everything clean, and shiny and any slight mess like dishes or laundry can be shoved in the appropriate machine or gadget and forgotten about until you need it, when it’s clean and ready for you to use. There’s really no responsibility either, well, I guess there’s a little bit of responsibility left. You’ve got to do two things, have enough money in the checking account and set up the automatic bill payment scheme.

But, sitting here with my feet near the hot fire and looking around at the lack of all of these things I find it a huge relief. I am glad to let others have the worry and the bother and the headaches. They can keep their plastic cars and their credit cards, the wires, gizmos and gadgets, the remotes, the headaches, the Tylenol, the traffic, the bills and the antibiotics. It seems a lot like idolatry with everyone so attached to their cell phone with camera, unlimited music downloads, internet, instant messaging, navigation, text messaging, weather alerts, email, spread sheets, wireless headset, Bluetooth, free nights and weekends, calculator, games, more games, alarm, voice mail and I don’t know what else. I was suddenly made aware of how easy it is to catch gizmoitis when I lost my cell phone the other day, actually I didn’t loose it, one of my pigs ate it. I didn’t think it was funny when it happened but when I told Jenifer (my sister) what happened she certainly thought it was funny, and Kyle (her husband) almost cried laughing so hard. I had it in my coat pocket and was upstairs of the barn throwing some bedding down for the pigs when it must have fallen out of my pocket and down the chute. I guess they thought it was breakfast, though it couldn’t have been too satisfying. The pig had enough brains to spit out the battery, otherwise I would have gotten Kyle to call my phone with his cell phone in order to hear which pig had eaten the phone.

I felt like I had suffered a huge loss, though what of I don’t know. I never call anybody but Kyle, and that only to save the 15 minutes it would take to walk over to his house and talk face to face. After thinking about it, it’s a ridiculous attraction to a delicate little device that really does nothing but make people more distant from each other because we no longer have to talk face to face or see anyone because we can conduct all business while laying in bed.

What I find really amusing is the inventory of products people need to get away from reality because their reality stinks. It’s the reality those same people have created for themselves, thinking it’s what they want, all the while they work ever harder to get as far away from it as they can through video games, TV, computer or other entertainment, or, on the other hand, they have a whole arsenal of drugs to do the trick, prescription ones and non prescription ones, legal and not so legal. Or there’s always the option of a psychologist with their bag of tricks, they are ever willing to sell you the latest variety of chicken poop for the soul. In the end, with all of the modern miracles to help us get through the life we have worked so hard to create for ourselves, we come out plasticized, revitalized and Teflon coated, ready to face the self made reality which really is only a fiction! Of course, everyone feels safe because if things really get bad the government will be sure to step in and take care of us. The fact that whenever we have trusted government assistance it has failed us is usually ignored.

I wonder if someone should tell some people that if they were to throw away everything they have worked so hard to get in order to be happy that they would be much more content and satisfied. It seems kind of backward but I suspect it would do the job.