Two days ago, January 4th was the seventh year of blogging for me. In those seven years there has been a lot of changes. Changes from my family to the world at large. Just over the past few years we have seen weather pummel the earth with all but a death blow. Raging water, snow accumulations, earthquakes, run-a-way fires, devastating tornados……..the list is endless. Human suffering on all levels has come in the form of cancers, wars and all out murder and desecration .

If the Bible Belt thought crime was just in heavily populated areas they were wrong. The big move has been to small towns and rural America. Parents killing children and children killing parents. One of the greatest shames is the sexual abuse foisted on children who cannot defend themselves……and too often from people or places they should be safe around.

I have to laugh when I look back to the birth of many common items we now have in our homes. My mother and father used to talk about how they came from horse and buggy days to men walking on the moon. Dad told about his first look at an automobile that left him speechless. Top speed at something like 10 miles an hour. On the spot he made up his mind to own one someday. Of course that decision had to wait on funds. Dad was in love with automobiles.

Dad had six brothers of which he was next to the youngest. His older brothers bought automobiles soon after they left the farm for work elsewhere. Dad would laugh and talk about how they would all race each other. They were in love with speed. When Dad was finally able to realize his dream to own an automobile if another could beat the one he was driving he would buy the faster one as soon as he could. Racing was in their blood.

As I look around the house and see the things that have been invented in my lifetime I’m amazed how many there are. The evolution of electronics is mind boggling. I remember the children watching the “Jetsons” and how they wished it was real about talking to someone without a telephone. How neat it would be to be able to live in their world at the time. Those kids grew up and became entrepreneurs of things we didn’t know was out there.

I do have a cell phone and computer but pretty basic ones. My computer is seven years old now and is full to the brim. I refrain from buying a new one because I can’t justify it. If this works, then I need to work with it. I’m sort of a blend of what was and what is. I want to keep current with things but my upbringing always takes precedence over spending when something isn't broken. I need to brace against the inevitable though because some day my Dell is going to have to be replaced.

The waterfall picture is at the end of the street where a friend of mine from high school lives. He has lived in Germany many years and I always enjoy his pictures. January seemed a good time for a frozen waterfall picture.

Essentially Esther