The End of a Hiatus

To begin, I apoligize. I know many of you cannot live without a daily blog post from me. To those people, sorry. To all of the rest of you people who wondered what happened to me and if my blog would continue, your worrying stops here.

I took a hiatus, albeit not a long one. Since my last blog post, I have been trying to avoid using the internet very often. Many days I failed that, the wiles of the internet drawing me in again. But a couple of things happened that would change my outlook on that and make me want to use my computer a lot less. And a warning now: this blog will contain lots of pictures. Normally I am not one to have lots of pictures in my blog, but I felt the need to include more today.

A little background is definitely in order. That picture you see above is a picture of my grandparent's cottage, a place of childhood memories, and an escape from the vices of life. Since I got a job and started university, I have visited that cottage a lot less than I have wanted. A LOT. I love it there. It offers an escape from the technology of the modern world. Usually, the highest class technology we have up there is a black and white TV, which probably has about three channels. (Not that I watch any of them. It is more there for decoration.) Because of this, the cottage is a refuge from all the thingamabobs and doohickeys from the modern civilization.

This picture is the steps leading up to the cottage, the sight that reminds me most of the sacred place of which I am entering. There are so many places that hold fantastic memories, but that is one sight that I always love to see. (Especially after heaving up heavy water jugs all the way from the dock.) The Great Outdoors is what keeps on bringing me back to the cottage and what keeps me fascinated in all the aspects of the cottage life. It is a blast to the past, a sign of a beautiful era that does not need computers, or phones, or pineapples to be awesome. It just needs to be itself and allow others to explore its hidden secrets. I can never be bored at the cottage, there is always time for a canoe or a row, or a game of Chinese checkers.

But lately, with the arrival of my cousins, technology has reared its ugly head. I guess to each their own, and as long as I am not influenced by their new-fangled gadgets, the cottage retains its beauty. I find the need for this technology, even with other people's cottages disturbing. The need to be amused by some pixel on a screen is frankly disgusting, especially when the beauty of nature surrounds you.

To some, these barren rocks and sparse trees probably seem ugly. But to me, these just show the survival and beauty of Mother Nature. The apparent "ugliness" of barren rocks probably does drive some to require technology to keep themselves amused, but it is a unhealthy obsession. When surrounded by such a landscape, with soothing water and a blank canvas for fun, I find technology quite unnecessary. But one man's rock is another man's sanctum I guess you could say.

But enough of these awful tidings of the degradation of human society. This blog post is meant to force you to question how you spend your time on technology, just like I have mine. It also serves another purpose: for me to brag about my awesome cottage. And call me a hypocrite if you want, after all I am typing this from a computer, but keep in mind I have at least made a slight effort to become less dependent on technology by even visiting my cottage (with no internet access).

So I leave you with a parting thought and a parting photo. This may not be the end of my inner struggle against the pull of technology, but I feel I have won a small victory. What can you say? (Feel free to beat me, I do know how much time I spend on the computer, despite what my `rents might think.) So is this the end of a journey, or the beginning?



-AFR