Reprieve from Progress
Mama Hen #1
An unexpected overnight thunderstorm and a direct lightning hit to the utility pole across our street, left us without television these past three days. Not even our DVD player would work. While AT&T promised to send out a new cable box immediately, we were still dealing with the fact that it was a three day long weekend and anything that would arrive from their end, wouldn't be arriving anytime soon. We took a deep breath and decided "life would go on".
The funny thing is, we were constantly reminded over the past few days that life exists in a broader format than what we'd become accustomed to experiencing. While the Internet and the progress of the Electronic Revolution brings the world to our fingertips and television sets, we've come to the conclusion that this onslaught has us missing things that happen right under our noses, much more than we realize.
An unexpected overnight thunderstorm and a direct lightning hit to the utility pole across our street, left us without television these past three days. Not even our DVD player would work. While AT&T promised to send out a new cable box immediately, we were still dealing with the fact that it was a three day long weekend and anything that would arrive from their end, wouldn't be arriving anytime soon. We took a deep breath and decided "life would go on".
The funny thing is, we were constantly reminded over the past few days that life exists in a broader format than what we'd become accustomed to experiencing. While the Internet and the progress of the Electronic Revolution brings the world to our fingertips and television sets, we've come to the conclusion that this onslaught has us missing things that happen right under our noses, much more than we realize.
With nothing to distract us, we took a drive North to a lavender festival, where we sipped on lavender lemonade and ate chicken salad sandwiches in their quaint little cafe, before strolling through the gathering of vendors selling homemade wares. We picked out some lavender plants to bring home to plant in our own little garden, bought a bar of homemade Sweet Pea and Ivy scented soap and carefully selected two favorite homemade jams after free-sampling many (Peach Lavender and Watermelon Pineapple & Tarragon). We took pictures of alpacas, frisky colts, old barns and kitschy roadside attractions. On the way home we rolled down the windows and let the warm Texas breeze blow our hair into an unapologetic disarray.
Once home again, we spent most of the rest of the weekend sitting outside on our back porch and watched our puppies chase each other, haggling over the ownership of a stick that had blown down from a tree during the storm.
We watched the squirrels scamper across the top of our fence line, and butterflies flit through the freshly mowed grass.
We planted herbs, vegetables, and flowers in our backyard while bluejays, cardinals and starlings stared down from the branches of the trees
We made sun tea.
We smoked a brisket and a whole chicken and grilled hotdogs for lunch.
And we talked. We made future plans; we reminisced about our childhoods; we shared stories and recalled parallel experiences. We laughed. We reconnected.
In a nutshell we didn't wait for technology to bring life to us, we went out and seized it in our own hands. You know -- the way we all used to do it in the good ol' days.
Once home again, we spent most of the rest of the weekend sitting outside on our back porch and watched our puppies chase each other, haggling over the ownership of a stick that had blown down from a tree during the storm.
We watched the squirrels scamper across the top of our fence line, and butterflies flit through the freshly mowed grass.
We planted herbs, vegetables, and flowers in our backyard while bluejays, cardinals and starlings stared down from the branches of the trees
We made sun tea.
We smoked a brisket and a whole chicken and grilled hotdogs for lunch.
And we talked. We made future plans; we reminisced about our childhoods; we shared stories and recalled parallel experiences. We laughed. We reconnected.
In a nutshell we didn't wait for technology to bring life to us, we went out and seized it in our own hands. You know -- the way we all used to do it in the good ol' days.
