Have You Felt It Too? Or, Is It Just Me?

By G. E. Shuman

            I remember, as a child and as a young man, being fairly astonished at new things. New scientific discoveries, new gadgets, and electronic gizmos amazed me. Believe it or not, I was already married when I got my first ‘pocket calculator’, (I’m from the Jurassic era.) What a marvel that thing was, way back then.

            All these years later, new things just don’t interest me much or astonish any of us much. You very likely have a miniature computer in your pocket, right now, that will connect you with any information the world has to offer, immediately, and for free. That’s somewhat better than my first pocket calculator, I would say. But that iPhone really doesn’t astound you, or me, or the ten-year-old boy you know that also has one in his pocket and knows its abilities better than we do. “There is no new thing under the sun.” (Ecc. 1:9.) Have you felt that way too? Or, is it just me? I’m not amazed at much of anything anymore, other than the faces of my young grandkids and new great-granddaughter.

            To me, the old arguments, the old conflicts seem tired and boring. If you don’t agree with me, turn on the news for a few moments. Washington D.C., our nation’s prime example of the inmates taking over the asylum, is the same old mud-slinging town it always was, but now seems worse than ever. I find myself turning the news off shortly after turning it on lately.

            Not to rain on any humanist parade, but to me even our scientific advances, although they are ever-greater and are coming faster than at any other time in history, just don’t thrill me much, anymore. When I was a child, twelve American men landed on and walked on the moon. Yes, doubters, they really did. Those amazing astronauts actually did some of their landing calculations with a slide rule and a stopwatch. These days, with computers doing the planning, guiding, and landing, I think that even traveling to Mars will become routine soon after it is first done. Also, cars will someday drive themselves. Oh, right. They’re already doing that.  Are we really that impressed?

            Nano-technology, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence are all being hatched in our labs, even as I write these words. It is being claimed now that these advances will do much to improve our world. They may help solve world hunger, bring peace, and even cure cancer. I hope that they do, but if they do, such things will soon be expected of them, and they will not amaze us for long.

            Something just feels different these days, to me. I may simply be jaded by all the years I have seen, but I don’t think that is it. It feels to me that something very big is about to happen. Have you felt it too? Or, is it just me?

           

           

It’s a Tad Chilly for Me

By G. E. Shuman

            So, recently my brother Steve, who lives in Florida and I were having a bit of a ‘climate’ contest, which went on for a few days. The contest went like this. Steve would text me a picture of his outdoor thermometer, and I would answer back with a picture of mine. Or, he would text with a comment on the weather down there, and I would answer with one about how things were here. One of Steve’s pics was accompanied by a note of “I think I can… I think I can…” as the needle slowly climbed to fifty degrees.  (I love my brother, I just hate his thermometer.)

            In reality, my brother doesn’t brag, and seemed very concerned for us when I sent the picture of our weather situation with the big numerals showing -20 degrees. Yes, if you don’t live around here, that was MINUS twenty degrees.  What fun.

            Our texting soon stopped, and I had to go outside and try to start up my stupid snow blower anyway. Steve likely went out to check on his posies or something. I suppose I need to watch my adjectives. There really can’t be anything particularly stupid about a snow blower. I like mine because it works, and I hate it because it only works if I’m out there with it, like it gets lonely or something. Maybe that’s the part that’s stupid. We have remote controls for everything in our country, from turning on the AC in the summer to starting the car in the winter. And Elon Musk can land a rocket back on the launch pad without even touching it. (Oh yes, that’s also in Florida.) Still, why can’t my snow blower simply run itself up and down the driveway without me? I would be happy to watch it from the kitchen window. (There is no justice, other than in the picture my daughter just sent me of a snow-covered palm tree.)

            Those of us up here in the Arctic reaches of New England all know it has been just a tad chilly of late. Yes, we are supposed to be tough up here, and yes, I still see delivery people wearing shorts, even as their knees are probably knocking together, but, personally, I’m getting somewhat tired of being cold. It could be just me, but lately I have felt a real chill when the sun goes down, and find myself in a recliner covered with a comforter on many of those dark evenings. It helps a lot that it gets dark shortly after lunchtime around here lately. 

            I do have the privilege of spending many evenings with my eighteen-month-old granddaughter, Nahla. She comes over to babysit me quite a bit. Nahla also seems to like cuddling up on the couch with that old comforter and older Papa, just as much as old Papa does. (I also sneak some of her snacks of popcorn or Cheerios. She doesn’t seem to mind.) We watch her favorite toddler-appropriate TV show, (It’s something we both can relate to.) and both of us usually fall asleep as she listens to the music and I listen to the furnace gulping down fuel in the cellar.

            Fellow New Englanders, winter has really just begun, and if you’re like me, you probably didn’t like my reminding you of that fact. (I wish I would be quiet.) Still, I do intend to make the best of it. God has blessed me with a big old sturdy house to take shelter in, and a beautiful child to share the comforter and the Cheerios with.  What more could anyone ask for?