Random thoughts from this Christmas Break

(view from parent's back porch on Dec 23rd)

Here's some thoughts I had while staying at my parent's place over Christmas Break:

• Daily exercise (in this case shoveling snow & helping remove downed trees) makes me feel healthier, happier, and improves digestion.
• Sledding is *much* better when the powdery snow has been compacted by the front loader of a tractor for the sole purpose of a home made toboggan run.
• The internet and computers are a) addictive and b) have changed the way I think (made me dumb in a smart way!?! Maybe we need a word for them... if the TV is the idiot box, is the computer the ADD box?) I notice these changes in my thought patterns only when I am removed from the source of the change for a few days.
• It has been said that 'technology isolates people from each other' The implication is that this is a bad thing. Not always. Surfing the web enables people to get some alone time without leaving the house. So does taking a shower by yourself. I found shoveling the snow & walking to the end of the road to check weather & downed power line conditions was a suitable replacement, but I really, really wanted to be connected to the web.
• After the 3rd day of my bad guitar playing after the sun went down, I think the rest of the family would agree that I need to learn a few more songs. Particularly since the only commercial one I know by heart is "Stairway".
• I don't like the excess of Christmas gifts anymore. I've noticed that the more items one gets at any one point in their life, the less value they have, even months later. There are books from Christmas 2007 that I haven't gotten around to reading yet! They're like a to-do list. I'd rather get things throughout the year, so I can pay proper attention to them all. (Crocodile tears, I know. Most people should be so lucky.) My family is getting more consolidated gifts, so this year was much better than last.

Ever stop to think about the comforts we have compared to our ancestors? Compare your life to that of a King in Medieval times. Obviously we don't have the same control over others (try telling a bunch of people to wage war in your name) But besides that, here's a vastly incomplete list of what we have. Everyone's mileage will vary but you get the gist:

• Heated homes
• Sanitary running water
• Showers and baths
• A life expectancy over 2.5 times a king of yore
• The ability to be able to afford to see live music over four times a year
• A much wider spectrum of music
• The means to buy recordings of music that can be played again & again with no quality loss
• Much better medical facilities
• A nearly complete lack of leeches used in our modern medical system
• A wider variety of food from around the globe
• better potential for a healthier diet
• Affordable books
• Public libraries
• Pubic School (yes it could be much better. But if you can read this, then you're more educated than the majority of our forefathers)
• Electronic Entertainment

OK, I went off the deep end on that tangent.

Let's call it a night.