Thinking about how a new month appears on a screen by a click of a mouse instead of the turn of a page. Wondering if companies have stopped distributing calendars to their clients. We used to get so many of them that most were discarded, but we haven’t received one in years. Time marches on, and technology is encouraging it to move at warp speed.

I have a little home office that’s my early morning refuge. Frank and Daisy sleep for a couple of hours beyond my normal 5 A.M. wakeup. Sam is a different story. He travels with me and curls up at my feet. My office is equipped with a coffee pot and my desktop computer. The first thing I do is tap a key to bring the computer to life.

Pictures of the kids pop up immediately. Always a good way to start the day. But that brings up the fact that I have years of photographs on my computer instead of in the family albums of old. Thanks to Frank, I have something connected to my computer that automatically backs things up, so hopefully I’ll never lose them. Shows how little I really know about this stuff when I refer to the device as a “something.”

My lack of understanding extends to the “cloud.” Somehow, I take pictures with my iPhone and they float up to the cloud and flutter down to iPhoto on my computer. I usually just accept this as normal. I was never much of a photographer until the iPhone entered my life. The fact that it’s usually in my pocket and readily available has opened up a new area of interest for me.

Today, for some reason, I’m thinking about how tied I am to technology. In addition to the computer, I have an iPhone and an iPad. I left my phone on the counter the other day when I went to the store and honestly had a moment of panic when I realized that I was without it. How ridiculous is that? I was in downtown Falmouth, not the jungles of Africa.

Interesting the things that now seem normal. Things that would have been the realm of science fiction a short time ago. I was in a doctor’s office this past week. It was a large waiting room, and most chairs were occupied. There were racks of untouched magazines because people were absorbed by their iPads and smart phones. Like many places these days, the office was equipped with WiFi.

This computer that sits on my desk is a lifeline to the outside world. So far today, I’ve checked the news and weather. I’ve read and answered email. I’ve added events to the calendar for October, and items to an ongoing “to-do” list. I’ve downloaded a book from Audible to my iPhone. It also allows me to communicate with my daughter before both of our worlds gear up for the day. And now, I’m tapping out this blog.

It’s 7 A.M. Time to rouse the rest of our little household.