Monday Morning Musings

Being addicted to the computer occasionally has its upside. You become a member of Facebook, and the next thing you know you are inundated with invitations to all sorts of useless applications from people who you didn't ever hear from before. This is not the upside of which I speak; the up comes from updates that you can get on things you do care about. This last week, my Aunt Margaret, who is 94 and completely "with it", broke her hip (well, there is now some debate as to what exactly broke, but she did require surgery). Through the magic of updates from my cousins on Facebook, I was able to tell my mom on Sunday morning that her sister had come through the surgery successfully, and was now back in her hospital room enjoying the benefits of good drugs to ease the pain. My mom marvelled at this; we didn't even require a phone call to bring us news (though we did require a phone line).
Yes, I'm so addicted that I have a computer and internet access at our cottage. Good thing, too, since there are only three tv stations that come in at all up there, and I like to check the weather network online. Also a good thing because Iain can check in on work stuff (though I wish he didn't have to).
Anyway, I also have another thing to rant about, today. I must have on my street the fewest per capita tree-huggers in the country. While everywhere else the concern is about global warming and the protection of the environment, my neighbours blithely axe every large shade-giving tree and opt for air conditioners instead. As I write this, yet another huge shade tree up the block is being cut down. I'm not holding out much hope that they will simply trim it up and leave the main body of it standing, to leaf out again. The tree is healthy and beautiful - the leaves haven't even begun to turn as yet, while the sad maple we are trying to keep alive in our front yard has lost half its leaves - and yet I'm sure they will take the whole thing down. It breaks my heart to see such waste.