Chas, they're already mowing my lawn - I'm way too busted up to do it anymore, even with the tractor. Keep in mind I have nearly 3 acres of just lawn to mow and none of it is flat ground.

I guess I get a bit depressed, neanderthal that I am, watching so many young people go through life and not taking time to explore what nature has provided us over the eons. They never seem to notice a beautiful, clear blue sky and create dreams watching those white, puffy clouds passing in the breeze. They tend to accept filthy rivers and streams as if they were normal, yet never seem to marvel at the turquoise waters of the Florida Keys and life that thrives on the coral reefs below. My surroundings at home are filled with the beauty of nature, wildlife abounds everywhere you look, there's a clear, relatively clean stream flowing through the deep valley behind my home, the ripples of which can be heard from our deck. Yet, my grandson would rather sit in the kitchen with his eyes glued to a touch screen.

Chas, I know you, and I, are both well read. I read 20 or more pages of a book every night, and have done so since I was a youngster. I love reading about history, particularly books written by those who actually were a large part of our history and heritage. And, for a significant part of my life, I was also an outdoor columnist and journalist, both in print and on the radio. I learned a lot, both from those thousands of books and from people, from all walks of life, that I met and interviewed. From what I have seen, people that live behind a computer or touch screen will never experience these things. To me, it is so sad to see this, and yes, it is depressing as well, especially when I see it happening in my children's and grandson's lives.

You say WE created this, but in reality, I don't believe WE did. A generation much younger than ours did this, and yes, some of it could be called progress, but when people no longer interact with others on a first hand basis, I consider that regressive. An analogy of this is readily seen by many individuals on this forum. We ALL enjoyed playing music the most when we performed live with other band members. You did, I did, and for the most part, nearly every forum member enjoyed interacting with others. We had a Hell of a lot of fun, we did things together and we communicated using the best known method - actually talking to each other face to face.

Sorry for the rant, old friend,

Gary