I just got a brand spanking new laptop. First time I’ve ever owned one. I immediately took it down to my favorite coffee shop and went online. From that little cafe in my little town, my laptop picked up more than six wireless connections. For people in big cities, this is small beans. But to me, it’s astonishing. It’s easy to see a whole wireless world just around the corner with all of us connected, sharing information and photos and music through this invisible line that we couldn’t have imagined not that long ago. I am struck by the fast forward motion of technology juxtaposed to the ancient concept of GladRags. I like to live this way: one foot in, one foot out, I call it. I don’t want to eschew modern culture even though it appears to be problematic in so many ways, and I also don’t want to give up reaching back for the more sensible and sustainable ways of living that technology seems to be gobbling up and spitting out. So, I’m happy with my GladRags; I know that this reaching back is right. And I’m happy with my laptop; this reaching forward is exhilarating.

Michelle