Here at Green Acres, we're still working on getting all those modern conveniences. We have electricity, but we're waiting for Mr. Bell to string the telephone wire. One day it will come all the way into the house, and I won't have to drive four miles to talk to someone. It seems like only a week ago that I could chat with folks around the world from the comfort of home.

Soon I'll be taking communication for granted again. Just now I'm appreciating what a basic need it is, and what ingenuity we'll use to close the gaps between us. Smoke signals, yodeling, semaphore. Ways to be seen, heard, and maybe even understood over long distances.

These days I'm grateful to live in an age when instant person-to-person, around-the-world contact is available. I just wish it were available to me.

How's that for self-absorbed? Plagues and famines confound the world, and I'm wailing over a lost connection.

I'm not the most organized person in the world, but this is ridiculous.

Here's another view.

Liquor stores, by the way, are a great place to find boxes.