Dependability

My car starts when I press a button, lights come on when I flip switches, the oven bakes my brownies, the fridge keeps my sodas cold, Scooter will climb in my lap wherever I sit…I count on these actions without a thought.

Those dependable aspects of life - that make my world go round smoothly - are taken for granted. They are the things that enable my body and brain to create and cope when a new factor appears or something gets out of kilter.. If cows start meowing and cats start mooing, dogs start flying and ducks start barking, the music stops playing so feet quit dancing, it would shake up my being for sure. It would take a bit to regroup.

Dependable things don’t make life boring. They make the interesting parts possible - like art and travel, picnics and fiction, laughter and games.

Technology has advanced at warp speed during my years on the planet. I started life in Leave it to Beaver mode then along came chips you don’t eat and computers you can wear on your wrists. I like hearing phones ring, so my cell phone rings like the landlines of the first 50 years of my life. When microwaves and VCR’s came along, I resisted. Once I adjusted, it didn’t take long for technology to kick me right out of that comfort zone. No need to heat water for single cups of cocoa or coffee. A Keurig does that. I felt like a pro when I learned to record one show while watching another. No need any more. Something called Roku with on-demand programming. Not sure I want to figure it out. It may vanish soon to the next way to chill in front of a TV screen.

If you think I behave unpredictably, it’s just my psyche balking at the newest innovation. I probably haven’t yet figured out what it’s replacing.