Dear Editor, 

I’m amazed when I think about how there are now grown adults who have never operated a rotary dial telephone, never dug a well, never patched a roof, and have never had a sweetheart in 3D. Some of us are the last generation that did tasks with muscle and leverage, before computers took charge of our lives. 

I’ve known people who fought in wars over life and death issues, not which flag one held, nor which way one parted their hair. The pain was real, and there was no reboot when the luck ran out. Come to think of it, there are places where that’s going on today, still.

I think about a time when Christmas was more about Jesus than about Santa Claus and Boxing Day sales. “And so this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year over, and a new one just begun. War is over if you want it,” sang John Lennon. Make for yourself a good time in this next solar cycle, and live as if it matters.

Robert Wills, Shawville and Thorne