This Modern World

This past Father’s Day one of my Granddaughters came and asked me, “Poppi, how do I turn the TV on”? When I was her age all we did was walk over to the set, turn the off/on knob and flip the channel selector to one of the two or three stations available at that time. I told her how and then thought about the whole TV thing. I must look pretty foolish when I sit in the recliner watching TV. A remote in my left hand, one in my right hand, another nearby on the end table and even one more in case I should ever use the VCR. Oh yes, one more in a basket for the air conditioner. Ridiculous, but necessary. One remote that came with the set, then another added for the new updated Digital and HD box, and let us not forget the Bose surround sound, need a remote for that too.

Have we gone too far in this electronic age? What have we gained for all these so-called advancements? Now I don’t even get any exercise getting up to change the channels, but I’ve got terrific muscles in my thumbs, created by my futile attempts to avoid the dumbest commercials every created in the past fifty years. Seems to me we were not annoyed by them in the “old days”, and they weren’t so damn long. The sad thing is that we are paying dearly to watch hours and hours of commercials. Just have one sleepless night and try to entertain yourself. Entertain with what? The beloved infomercials. Think about it……paying nearly $100 a month to be annoyed most of the time.

And don’t even get me talking about cell phones, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and all the other electronic means of communication. Text this! What’s the matter with talking to each other? Ok, I’m done for now.

Southwest National Park Tour

1. Eight days and 217 pictures later we're back in New England. For years we talked about making a trip to the Grand Canyon, but always seemed to procrastinate and never got there. I am so happy we finally decided to go. We took a Caravan Tour that began in Phoenix, Arizona, headed North to Sedona, Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. I'm someone who is normally difficult to impress, but this week every day managed to amaze me. The sights are mind boggling, no words or pictures can do them justice. I recommend that you grab a pen or pencil and immediately put a trip here on your "Bucket List". You really have to see it before you die. I wish I were able to show you all 217 pictures here. If you want to see the rest, let me know, I'll email them to you.

We were also very fortunate to have an excellent Tour Director, Bruce Gilbert, who had a vast knowledge of the area and passed it on to us at every opportunity. Additionally everything went like clockwork with not a hitch in the program. I must say that even the airports were tolerable. Many who know me have a good idea of how I detest airports. This trip proved to be so good, we're already planning the next one.
Top picture is of Marge at the Grand Canyon. We even got some pictures of Marge standing in front of three huge Elk and Mule deer feeding on the lodge lawn. We're told they come out every day. Second picture is called the three sisters. This was take in Monument Valley (Navajo Reservation land). Third and fourth were taken at Bryce Canyon, probably the prettiest of all the stops. By the way, those little dots in the third picture are people who made their way down a hiking path.
I think I'll stop. Have always tried to keep my Blogs short so as not to bore you, but I can't promise not to write some more about it in the future.

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