Wonder of the 21st Century

Do you remember the short film clips that forecasted the inventions for the new century? I remember seeing such a film when I was about 11 years old. One upcoming convenience was a kitchen where you typed into a panel the name of the dish you wanted for dinner and 'wah-lah' it would come out of a little compartment all prepared. Wow!! I could really use that miracle maker today. Another amazing invention was a phone where you would see the person you were talking to on a little TV screen while you were talking to him. My response to that futuristic gadget was, " ugh, I don't want to have to look nice just to talk on the phone". HaHa . . . oh my naivety. Recently I realized that, by way of my personal computer (which I don't believe was mentioned in the film), I talk and see who I'm on line with. Can you believe how convenient the future has become?

I love to webcam. Via web cam I can see our young granddaughter sing songs, turn somersaults and blow kisses to us. We watched some of her first efforts at walking, saying "I Love You", and showing off her new baby sister. In return Keilah hears our applause, sees us cheer and blow kisses back. Because of this live interaction we are familiar to her and that makes things comfortable between us, especially when she comes with her family to visit.

The possibilities for keeping the connection are numerous. We catch up on family photos our kids have taken on their jaunts around the countryside and the cityscape. We sing good-night lullabies to the babies, recite finger plays with them, read and show picture books.

The web cam is a wonderful thing. "It's the next best thing to being there."